Maritza Jaramillo

Biography

Dr. Maritza Jaramillo studied undergraduate biology at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Bogota, Colombia). Subsequently, she completed her Masters and PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at Université Laval (Quebec, Canada) under the direction of Dr. Martin Olivier. During his graduate studies, Dr. Jaramillo worked on the transcriptional regulation of pro-inflammatory molecules induced during parasitic infections. Subsequently, she began postdoctoral research in Dr. Nahum Sonenberg's lab at McGill University (Montreal, Canada), where she worked on translational control of infectious diseases. In May 2012, Dr. Jaramillo joined the faculty of INRS - Institut Armand Frappier as an assistant professor.

Research Interest

My main research interest is to understand the role of translational control in infectious diseases. During an infection, there are constant interactions between the host and the pathogen, which determines the outcome of the disease. In my laboratory, we are interested in establishing: (i) how the pathogen modulates the translation machinery of its host cell in order to survive, and (ii) how the translational control influences the development of an effective immune response to an infectious agent . A better understanding of how the immune cell and, overall, the immune system respond to pathogens will contribute to the identification of new therapeutic targets. Translational control or regulation of protein synthesis allows the cell to respond quickly to exogenous signals and attacks. Consequently, this constitutes an important regulation step during infections. Molecular mechanisms include: (i) activation of the mTOR kinase-regulated signaling cascade, (ii) inhibition of the major translational repressor, 4E-BP1 protein, and (iii) initiation of translation of messenger RNAs related to the immune response. To counteract these effects, intracellular pathogens have developed strategies that allow them to use / regulate the translational machinery of the host and thus promote their replication. These events have been studied mainly in response to viruses. However, the involvement of translational control in parasitic and bacterial infections has not been explored in depth. This is why we have developed two main research components: