Alessio Lanna

Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow

I graduated summa cum laude in Biotechnology at the University Tor Vergata of Rome in July 2008, and was awarded a summa cum laude Master degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology by the University La Sapienza of Rome in January 2011. The same year, I was awarded a MRC-funded PhD Fellowship by the University College London (UCL), and joined Professor Arne Akbar's research group at the Division of Infection and Immunity in September 2011. During my PhD, I investigated mechanisms of telomerase down-regulation in lymphocytes and identified a new pathway for activation of p38 MAPK in primary human T cells. In this pathway, intra-cellular changes such as low-nutrient and senescence signals converge to negatively regulate T cell responses ('Intra-Sensory' signaling). During this time, I served as invited speaker at the International Congress of Immunology (ICI, Milan 2013), and held a Bright Sparks in Immunology lecture at the European Congress in Immunology (ECI, Vienna 2015). After my PhD, I was offered Post-doctoral Fellowships by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and the Wellcome Trust. Presently, I serve as a Sir Henry Wellcome Trust Fellow under the Sponsorship of Professor Michael L Dustin at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford. I hold an Honorary Research Associate contract at UCL, and international collaborations with Professors Michael Karin (University California San Diego) and Erika L Pearce (Max Planck Institute For Immune-biology and Epigenetics, Freiburg) and Dr. Enrico Lugli (Humanitas Cancer Research Centre, Milan). My mentor is Professor Mala Maini (UCL). Our work will introduce a hitherto unknown immune-inhibitory complex, identifying strategies to restore adaptive immunity during ageing and in tumour disease. The overall aim is to define the interplay between senescence and metabolic signals in controlling T cell function.

Recent Publications

A sestrin-dependent Erk-Jnk-p38 MAPK activation complex inhibits immunity during aging.
Lanna A. et al, (2017), Nature immunology, 18, 354 - 363
Measuring Telomerase Activity in Senescent Human T Cells Upon Genetic Modification.
Lanna A., (2017), Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 1514, 119 - 126
Senescence of T Lymphocytes: Implications for Enhancing Human Immunity.
Akbar AN. et al, (2016), Trends in immunology, 37, 866 - 876
Killer Cell Lectin-like Receptor G1 Inhibits NK Cell Function through Activation of Adenosine 5'-Monophosphate-Activated Protein Kinase.
Müller-Durovic B. et al, (2016), Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950), 197, 2891 - 2899
Mitochondrial fusion fuels T cell memory.
Lanna A. and Dustin ML., (2016), Cell research, 26, 969 - 970

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