Lisa Ciacchi

I completed my PhD at Monash Biomedical Discovery Institute in Australia in the laboratory led by Professor Jamie Rossjohn. My research was centred on unravelling the molecular basis behind CD4+ T cell recognition of a conserved bacterial epitope from pneumolysin, presented by globally abundant HLA-DP molecules. Here, I gained expertise in recombinant protein expression and purification as well as in X-ray crystallography and biophysical techniques, including surface plasmon resonance to measure the binding affinities between a range of analytes with their respective ligands.

After graduating from my PhD in 2022, my first postdoctoral role within the Rossjohn laboratory was to study unconventional, innate-like mucosal-associated invariant T cells, that detect microbial-derived vitamin B metabolites presented by MR1. Beyond crystallising novel TCR-MR1-antigen complexes, my research was centred on uncovering a range of novel MR1 ligands. 

In 2024, I moved to Oxford to join the coeliac team led by Dr Michael Fitzpatrick, in Professor Paul Klenerman’s laboratory at the University of Oxford. My research focuses on cytotoxic CD8+ T cells in coeliac disease patients. This knowledge would be instrumental in determining therapeutic targets downstream that would be beneficial for the coeliac community, particularly among patients with persistent intestinal dysbiosis despite being on a gluten-free diet.

Alongside my post-doctoral research, I am actively involved in scientific public outreach projects. In the spring of 2024, I joined the Thanks for the Memories (T4TM) team led by Professor Paul Klenerman, Dr Zakiya Leeming and Dr Rachel Hindmarsh, to educate high-school students about concepts in immune memory and vaccines through art and music. 

Research interests:

Unconventional T cells, infectious diseases, autoimmunity, antigen discovery