Davide Robbiani studies B lymphocytes, which are crucial to immune defense because they produce infection-fighting antibodies, the key to the efficacy of most vaccines.

In the area of infectious diseases, the Robbiani lab investigates serologic determinants of disease severity, with a focus on the role of autoantibodies to immune factors (see Muri et al, Nature Immunology 2023). Ongoing studies are linked to long COVID and other post-infectious syndromes (e.g. CFS/ME). Translational studies are ongoing in the area of emerging infectious diseases, and diseases that represent unmet medical needs (e.g. for immune-suppressed individuals, pregnancy and elderly). This is in collaboration with local and international partners and includes the discovery and pre-clinical development of monoclonal antibodies for prevention or treatment. The focus is on respiratory viruses and diseases transmitted by ticks and mosquitoes (see Bianchini et al, Science Immunology 2023).

Robbiani is also interested in the malignant biology of B lymphocytes. B lymphocyte–derived cancers – leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma -frequently bear characteristic DNA aberrations. To understand the genesis of lymphoma-associated chromosome aberrations, particularly the contribution of immune enzymes such as RAG1/2 and AID to the genomic damage associated with these events, Robbiani and his colleagues use genetics along with deep-sequencing techniques and computational analysis of human cancer genomes.

Applications from highly motivated people are always welcome.