Ester Gea-Mallorquí

I have always been interested in viruses and their interaction with the immune system. 

My previous work covered pre-clinical and fundamental research, from the development of an HIV-TB vaccine to the characterisation of the HIV viral cycle in myeloid cells. For my Master’s project (AIDS Research Unit, Hospital Clinic-IDIBAPS, Barcelona), I developed an antibiotic-free BCG vaccine vehicle for a paediatric dual TB-HIV vaccine in collaboration with the Jenner Institute (University of Oxford). This research ignited my curiosity about the fundamental mechanisms of viruses, so I decided to further explore basic research questions for my PhD, at the group of Philippe Benaroch (U932, Institut Curie, Paris). I worked on understanding the HIV viral life-cycle in primary macrophages by comparing HIV-1 to the very similar yet less pathogenic HIV-2. I also described the interaction of HIV-1 with a newly defined population of precursor dendritic cells (pre-DCs).

I joined Prof. Rowland-Jones’ lab in 2019 as a postdoctoral scientist to continue the study of HIV-2,  adding the immune adaptive perspective. The way that viruses interact with the immune system and how these interactions can modify the interplay between the innate and the adaptive arms of immunity has always captivated me.

Using HIV-2 as a model for viral control, my research aims to decipher the mechanisms of development of a strong and polyfunctional adaptive T cell response. For that, I focus on both sides of the innate-adaptive interplay:

From the antigen-presenting side, I am interested in mechanisms by which viral antigens are presented and how viruses have evolved to divert and affect antigen presentation. Correlating clinical data with viral control, we aim to define molecular mechanisms that influence the first step in the generation of an effective adaptive response.

From the adaptive side, I aim to further characterise the adaptive immune response against HIV-2, which our lab had previously found to be potent and unusually effective and to correlate with this viral control. Since these responses are the hallmarks for HIV-2 viral control, we aim to describe the characteristics of polyfunctional responses that are not only important in chronic infections but also in cancer.

These results have the potential to fine-tune fundamental concepts of immunology regarding antigen presentation and the development of a strong and polyfunctional adaptive response. In addition, these can inform the production of HIV-based lentiviral vectors, the most prominent tool used in immunotherapy.

In addition to my fundamental research, I am part of the immunology package of the VITALITY clinical trial studying bone health in children and adolescents living with HIV in Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

During the first stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, I described the T cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 infection and the COVID-19 vaccine in people living with HIV. 

I am an advocate for open science and the Oxford lead for The Preprint Club. I am also part of the Oxford Immunology Group Committee from the British Society of Immunology.