Henrique Veiga-Fernandes awarded prestigious la-Caixa Grant

The immune system protects us from attack by pathogens. Scientists have recently discovered that on some occasions the nervous system also informs the defences about infections that exist in the organism.

This dialogue between neurons and defences, known as the neuroimmune system, regulates the proper functioning of organs and protects us from illnesses, many of which have neither a clear cause nor effective treatment.

The project seeks to understand the interactions of this system during infection in animal models and explore the molecular mechanisms of this communication, specifically, the pulmonary circuits during respiratory infections. Among other outcomes, such knowledge could be instrumental in developing new therapies to resolve the problem of antibiotic resistance.

Henrique Veiga-Fernandes. Photo by: Alexandre Azinheira.

*This project summary was provided by la-caixa. See original version here.