About her Postdoctoral project

Immunological memory is a strategy that allows our body to remember previously encountered pathogens. Memory B cells are an essential component of this strategy: upon secondary infections, they produce specific antibodies that rapidly neutralize the recurrent invader. Recent studies have identified long-lived tissue-resident memory B cells that offer local protection in the lungs, gut and skin. At present, we have no information regarding the dynamics of memory B cells at the tissue barriers. My CENTURI proposal aims to shed light into the spatio-temporal dynamics of memory B cells in the skin with a unique interdisciplinary approach. At CIML, I will visualize the behaviour of skin memory B cells at the steady state and upon local infection with Staphylococcus aureus by intravital 2-photon microscopy. At the LAI, I will apply microfluidic technologies to investigate the signals required for memory B cell guidance and response to pathogenic stimuli ex vivo. This will be the first study to model the dynamics of memory B cells at the tissue surfaces.