DrCarolina Herrera

I am a Senior Research Fellow in the Section of Immunology of Infection. I obtained my BSc in Chemistry and my PhD in Biochemistry, working on the role of adenosine and adenosine deaminase in immunodeficiencies, at the University of Barcelona, Spain. I then joined the group of Prof. John P. Moore at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, USA. As a Postdoctoral Fellow, I had the opportunity to make my first steps in the field of HIV working in the areas of neutralizing antibodies and CCR5 co-receptor.

My primary research interests are mucosal infection and inflammation. Using ex vivo tissue models, I study mucosal responses during transmission of HIV/SIV, HCV, and Zika virus. These primary tissue models also allow pre-clinical evaluation of prevention strategies, including pre-exposure prophylaxis and vaccine candidates. I have recently expanded the potential of the ex vivo tissue models to investigate inflammation and associated pathologies such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

During the last 10 years, I have been funded as PI or co-investigator by amfAR, HVTN-CHAVI, EU Commission FP7 Health 2012 Innovation, EDCTP, NIH, Canadian Institute for Health Research, Manitoba Health Research, Henry Jackson Foundation, Pfizer, Gilead, Merck and CHAIN Biotechnology.