ProfessorCecilia Johansson

Cecilia Johansson is a Professor of Mucosal Immunology and the Head of the Section of Respiratory Infections, at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London.

Cecilia did her undergraduate studies at Umeå University and Lund University, Sweden. She then did her PhD in the Section for Immunology at Lund University under the supervision of Professor Mary Jo Wick working on Salmonella infection and dendritic cells. She subsequently trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Brian Kelsall at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA, studying the role of type I interferons (IFNs) during intestinal virus infection.

In 2008, Cecilia set up an independent research group at Imperial College supported initially by a Career Development Award from the Medical Research Council. Her lab focuses on the generation and regulation of immunity via cellular crosstalk in the lung during viral infections. In particular, the lab studies the impact of type I interferons on lung inflammation and how these cytokines influence the induction of both innate and adaptive immune responses. In addition, her lab investigates how respiratory viral infections influence primary and metastatic lung cancer.

Cecilia is an an associate editor for Mucosal Immunology and Frontiers in Immunology (Mucosal Immunology Section). She is a member of the Medical Research Club, Imperial Network for Vaccine Research and the Asthma UK Centre for Asthma and Allergy. She is also the Congress Secretary Elect for the British Society for Immunology, a member of the Society for Mucosal Immunology Extramural Programs Committee and their membership committee. Cecilia also organises outreach activities for  16-18 year old students via the Science in Medicine School Team Prize and the Imperial CREST Academy.  

Work in Cecilia's laboratory is supported by grants from the MRC, BBSRC, Wellcome Trust, CRUK, BRC, the Jameel Fund and the Rosetrees Trust.