Martínez-Cáceres, Prof. Eva

Eva Martínez-Cáceres, MD (University of Valencia, Spain), trained as specialist in clinical Immunology (Clinic Hospital, Barcelona, Spain), obtained her PhD on the role of CD27 in human thymus (U. Barcelona, UB, 1993). Her post-doctoral research (The Netherlands Cancer Institute) was devoted to analyse mechanisms of human T-cell development. In 1996 she moved back to Barcelona, (Vall d’Hebron Hospital), where she started her research on the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). In 2001 she moved to Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital, as consultant immunologist, where she expanded her scientific interest to other autoimmune diseases, mechanisms of immunological tolerance and diagnostic immunology.

Her research focuses on the analysis of immunological mechanisms of peripheral tolerance. By using in vitro and animal models, her group aims at identifying new biomarkers for disease monitoring and prediction of treatment response, in the context of immune-mediated diseases. Since 2007 she has been involved in the development of cell-based tolerance-inducing therapies for autoimmune diseases, specifically MS. Her group has developed a tolerogenic cellular product consisting of autologous monocyte-derived tolerogenic dendritic cells loaded with a pool of myelin peptides to treat MS patients. This therapy has been tested in animal models of MS and a Phase I/IIa clinical trial is ongoing in active MS patients (Clinicaltrial.gov NCT02903537).

Currently, she is Head of the Immunology Division and Associate Professor of Immunology at the Autonomous University Barcelona (UAB). She has chaired the European COST Action A-FACTT (Action to Focus and accelerate cell-based tolerogenic Therapies) (www.afactt.eu) (2014-2017) and currently is the Vice-president of the Spanish Society of Immunology.