The Andrea Ponzetta team is part of Niklas Björkström research group at the Center of Infectious Medicine (CIM).
About our research
Our research interest is focused on a subset of immune cells ideally located at the crossroad between innate and adaptive immunity: unconventional T cells (UTC). Over the last two decades, a non-redundant role for UTC has been demonstrated in countless physiological and pathological contexts, generating a growing interest in their potential therapeutic application. However, several fundamental aspects of UTC biology and function remain elusive.
One of our research questions stems from our findings on a poorly characterised UTC population (DNT⍺β cells) displaying a prominent antitumor activity in preclinical models (Ponzetta et al, Cell 2019). As the immunomodulatory function of DNT⍺β cells in the human setting is completely unknown, our team is dissecting human DNT⍺β composition and behavior from multiple perspectives, both in peripheral blood and in tissues.
In parallel, our team is evaluating the functional implications and the translational value of the UTC compartment in the tumor setting, and specifically in gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GEAC). GEAC is a heterogeneous disease with low survival rate and increasing incidence in western countries, where conventional therapy has limited efficacy. Our objective is to use immune parameters to improve the current patient classification and find new therapeutic targets, as a fundamental step towards personalized treatment.
Our research at the Center of Infectious Medicine benefits from the collaboration with several research units within and outside KI and is closely connected with our clinical collaborators at the Karolinska University Hospital. In our team we use and integrate a range of single cell technologies, including high-dimensional flow cytometry, single cell genomics and digital pathology, and we are always looking for new analytical pipelines to face the challenge of big-data in immunology.
Open positions
We always want to get in touch with talented potential co-workers with questions on unconventional T cells and tumor immunology. If you are interested in joining our team, please contact the Team Leader andrea.ponzetta@ki.se
Collaborations
Our research at the Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) benefits from the collaboration with several research units within and outside KI, and is closely connected with our clinical collaborators at the Karolinska University Hospital. In our team we use a range of single cell technologies, including high-dimensional flow cytometry, single cell genomics and digital pathology, and we are always looking for new cool analytical pipelines to face the challenge of big-data in immunology.