Christophe Macri

I completed my PhD at the University of Strasbourg (2010-2013, France) characterising the underlying biology of a therapeutic peptide that is clinically developed for the treatment of autoimmunity.

In May 2014, I undertook a 1-year postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Prof. Jose Villadangos and Dr Justine Mintern (Bio21 Institute, Melbourne University). During this year, I investigated the role of the intracellular degradation pathway autophagy in the antigen presentation function of primary dendritic cells (DC). I also examined the intracellular trafficking criteria that make a receptor a good target for DC-based vaccination.

In May 2015, I was recruited as a postdoctoral fellow by Assoc. Prof. Meredith O’Keeffe (Monash University) to investigate the contribution of the novel type III interferons in the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). I have also examined the regulation of DC functions by the immune checkpoint PD-1.

In September 2018, I returned to the laboratory of Dr Justine Mintern (Bio21 Institute, Melbourne University). My current research aims at identifying by CRISPR novel genes that regulate the expression PD-L1, the ligand for PD-1. I am also investigating the role of antibody recycling in the setting of DC-based vaccination.