Since the beginning of my scientific career I have been interested in human immunology and mucosal Immunity. After initiating my research training at the University of Milan (Italy) and at the Centre de Recherches des Cordeliers (Paris, France), I performed my PhD at the laboratory of Dr. Lopez-Botet at UPF in Barcelona (Spain), with a  grant from the Marie Curie training Network of the EU. During my PhD, I provided new insight on the way natural killer cells respond to HCMV-infected myeloid cells, contributing to the overall understanding of innate immune system-HCMV crosstalk ( Magri et al, Blood 2011; Muntasell et al, blood 2010, among others).

After finishing my PhD, I joined the B cell biology laboratory led by Dr. Cerutti at IMIM, Barcelona. During my postdoc, I was awarded with 3 competitive postdoctoral fellowships (“Juan de la Cierva”, “Sara Borrell” and “Peris” contract). In the Cerutti’s laboratory I switched to the B cell biology field. My first post-doctoral study demonstrated that a unique subset of innate lymphocytes (ILC3), could regulate T-independent antibody responses in the spleen. This study was presented in several international meetings (including Keystone and EMBO meeting), and published in Nature Immunology in 2014 ( Magri et al, Nat Immunol 2014), receiving two news and views (in the same issue of Nat. Immunol. and in Nat. Rev. Immunol.). To carry out this study I did two internships: at the RIKEN institute in Yokoyama (Japan) and at the MSSM (USA).

During the second part of my postdoc I moved to the challenging field of mucosal immunology and host-microbiota interaction (Gutzeit C. et al. Immunol. Rev 2014; Magri & Cerutti, Immunity 2016,  Cheng, Magri et al, Nat Rev Immunol 2020). My work provided new insight into the ontogeny, regulation and function of human intestinal secretory IgM ( Magri et al, Immunity 2017 me as first and co-corresponding author, 108 citations). During this challenging project, I set up different -omics technologies for the characterization of B cells in human tissues and for the analysis of host-microbiota interactions. In parallel, I have also participated in 2 studies revolved around the role of mTOR and TACI in B cell antibody production ( Sintes et al, Nat Commun 2017; Grasset et al, Science Immunol 2020).

To complete my training, in 2017 I have been visiting scientist at the Cancer Immunotherapy group led by Prof. Merad at the Precision Immunology Institute at MSSM (NY, USA) (6 months) and in 2019 at the laboratory of Prof. Spits at the AMC (Amsterdam, NL) (6 months). These stays resulted in published collaborative studies ( Leader et al, Cancer Cell 2021; Heesters et al, JEM 2021; Uzzan et al, Nat Med 2022) and ongoing collaborations. 

Since 2020 I have been working as an independent researcher initially at IMIM (2020-2022) and currently hold a Ramon y Cajal contract at the University of Barcelona (2023 onwards). As principal investigator, I am continuing to investigate the role of B cells and antibodies in the context of chronic inflammation, anti-tumoral immunity and infection. As a principal investigator, I have secured continued funding through national competitive calls (Ramon Y Cajal, Miguel Servet grant, FIS and COVID19 call). In the last 3 years I devoted large part of my research to COVID-19. We have characterized B cell responses in COVID-19 patients and vaccinees, providing new insights into the complexity of the immune response dynamics to SARS-CoV-2 infection and mRNA vaccination ( de Campos-Mata et al, Clin & Transl. Immunol. 2021; Tejedor Vaquero et al, Front. Immunol. 2021, both as last and corresponding author).  Moreover, we have generated a human ultrapotent SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mab17T2), for which we have recently submitted  a patent application ( de Campos-Mata et al, under revision  in Nat Comm; patent number  EP22382940). Along my scientific career, I accumulate seniority and independence as a researcher, and initiative and capacity to move forward breakthrough ideas, with continued productivity ( 32 publications in peer-reviewed journals and 3 book chapters). Moreover, I have demonstrated mentorship skills, being co-director of  two PhD thesis (one ongoing) and director of a  master thesis. As independent investigator, I am currently collaborating with international leading experts in the immunology field, as shown by my publications. Moreover, since 2019 I am serving as external reviewer for science funding agencies (ERC, MINECO), as review editor for Front Immunol and as ad hoc reviewer for several peer-reviewed scientific journals (Nat Comm, iscience, JEM, Immunity, among others).