Carola Vinuesa

Carola Vinuesa, Principal Investigator at the Francis Crick Institute, is an immunologist well known for her seminal work on the induction of antibody responses. She defined a novel T cell subset, follicular T helper cells (Tfh), characterised by the transcription factor Bcl6 and the cytokine IL-21, as essential for the production of antibodies by B cells, changing a longstanding paradigm in immunology. She discovered that dysregulation of Tfh due to a mutation in the RING ubiquitin ligase Roquin alters B cell selection and causes autoimmunity. Professor Vinuesa has a strong interest and expertise in exploring rare genetic mutations leading to autoimmune conditions in humans, taking the route from human genetics in patients to specific mouse models to establish the precise molecular pathogenic pathways in these diseases and illuminate the choice of precision therapies.