Genomics

Domínguez Conde Group

The Domínguez Conde Group is a newly established research team in the Medical & Population Genomics programme of the Genomics Research Centre.

We aim to understand early-life human immunity and immune-mediated diseases in children using cutting-edge genomic and computational methods. Our group leverages the unprecedented power of single-cell multimodal technologies to identify cellular phenotypes associated with specific developmental stages. We primarily focus on adaptive immune responses, which constitute long-term immunological memory and are mediated by somatically recombined antigen-specific receptors expressed by lymphocytes of the T cell and B cell lineage. We aim to dissect the phenotypic changes that T and B cells undergo across human development and tissues. By tracking unique antigen receptors, we will unravel the dynamic changes of antigen-specific receptor repertoires in connection with clinical outcomes such as viral infections or autoimmunity symptoms.

Rare genetic conditions that compromise immune development lead to inborn errors of immunity that manifest with early-onset immunodeficiency, autoimmunity or immune dysregulation. Recent advances in genome sequencing have led to a wealth of genetic data that has advanced our knowledge of rare disease genetics. Nonetheless, we still lack a detailed understanding of the functional impact of individual genetic variants. In order to tackle this challenge, we will combine in-depth phenotyping of primary patient material with the molecular characterization of specific genes and genetic variants using genome engineering.

 

JOIN US! Available PhD position via the SEMM programme. Interested candidates please contact: cecilia.dominguez@fht.org

 

Resources

 

ALUMNI

  • Federica Boselli – Master’s student 2023/2024 – MSc in Bioinformatics for computational genomics (Università degli Studi di Milano – Politecnico di Milano)
  • Bartosz Jary – Erasmus plus student 2023 – MSc Medical Biotechnology (University of Warsaw)

Group members