• Lecturer (Infection Immunity and Inflammation Medicine)

telephone: 01413307142
email: Pasquale.Maffia@glasgow.ac.uk

Dr Maffia's long term research interest is the role of the immune-inflammatory response in cardiovascular diseases. Current research activities address the study of cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, neointimal formation and stroke.

Immune responses play a key role in cardiovascular diseases. However, a detailed understanding of the dynamics of the evolving adaptive immune response in vascular pathology has not been possible until now due to the technical limitations in models and evaluation of immune responses in vivo. We, and others, have developed techniques to track antigen-specific lymphocytes in vivo (J Immunol. 2004;173:151-6; Blood 2012;119:2545-51) and have significantly advanced our research capabilities by establishing the Ealpha-GFP system in our group, providing us with the ability to track antigen presenting cells and antigen presentation in the development of vascular immune responses. We have been amongst the first to apply multiphoton microscopy in murine models of atherosclerosis (Circulation 2007;115:e326-8) and stroke (Stroke 2011;42:1429-36) with the aim to define the kinetics and anatomical location of the T cell-APC interactions which underlie vascular immune responses in real-time in vivo. We are also involved in developing novel immune-modulatory-based strategies to control vascular injury in preclinical models of neointimal formation/restenosis (ATVB 2010;30:2458-66; ATVB 2011;31:2448-54).

Collaborations are established with researchers locally (Profs Garside, Brewer, McInnes, Baker, Dr Kennedy), nationally (Profs Wadsworth, Graham, Dr Carswell, University of Strathclyde; Prof Shu, Dr D’Acquisto, William Harvey Research Institute) and internationally (Prof Ialenti, Dr Grassia, Napoli, Italy; Prof Habenicht, Jena, Germany; Dr Mauri, Paris, France).

Dr Maffia's lab is funded by the Medical Research Scotland, British Heart Foundation, Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance, Asthma UK, Nuffield Foundation and ACRAF Angelini.

• Imaging immune cells in lung in order to understand asthma
  Asthma-UK
  2011 - 2012
   
• Targeting cell contact to reduce autoimmunity and enhance vaccination
  Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance
  2011 - 2012
   
• In Vivo Reporting using Nanosystems Chemistry and Optical Spectroscopy
  EPSRC
  2010 - 2011
   
• Visualising antigen presentation in mouse models of atherosclerosis
  Medical Research Scotland
  2010 - 2012
   
• Investigating the role of T cells in vascular pathology
  British Heart Foundation
  2010 - 2010