on October 21, 2011
The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) promotes excellence in molecular life sciences in Europe by recognizing scientists renowned for their outstanding contributions to research covering classical areas of molecular biology as well as other fields such as systems biology, neuroscience and cancer biology. Since 1964, leading scientists are elected annually to become EMBO Members based on proven excellence in research. Many of the EMBO Members bridge across a number of fields, from biology to medicine, biochemistry or biophysics.
This year 46 renowned scientists working in countries across Europe and in USA become EMBO Members and Dr. Federica Sallusto, Group Leader of the Cellular Immunology lab at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), is one of the newly elected EMBO Members.
Federica Sallusto received her PhD at the University of Rome and performed her postdoctoral training at the Italian Institute of Health in Rome (ISS) and at the Basel Institute for Immunology (BII). In two groundbreaking papers, she reported that monocytes are precursors of Dentritic Cells (DCs) and showed that DC maturation could be induced by microbial stimuli. In 1995, she started her own group at the ISS focusing on allergy and then moved to the BII where she started to study T cell trafficking. Her studies revealed a differential expression of chemokine receptors in human Th1 and Th2 cells leading to the characterization of “central memory” and “effector memory” T cells as memory subsets with distinct migratory capacity and function. In 2000, she moved her research group to the newly created IRB. Among her recent contributions are the epigenetic control of cytokine gene expression in human T cells and the characterization of Th17 and Th22 cells. Her studies have also challenged current dogma by identifying new mechanisms of lymphocyte migration in inflamed lymph nodes and in the brain. She received the Pharmacia Foundation Award in 1999, the Behring Lecture Prize in 2009, and the Award of the Foundation for Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases in 2010. Since 2010 she is member of the German Academy of Science Leopoldina.
The elected researchers are awarded the life-long honour of EMBO membership and join the 1500 of the worldʼs leading molecular biologists from whom 59 were honoured as Nobel Laureates. More than the prestigious recognition, it is a chance to access other leaders in the broad discipline of molecular biology and an opportunity to help shape the direction of life science research in Europe and neighbouring countries.
Some of the EMBO Members also contribute by serving on advisory editorial boards of the organizationʼs four scientific journals, mentoring young researchers, providing expertise to EMBO programs and taking the lead on new initiatives.