Dr Christophe Pellefigues
Research Fellow
Department of General Science
Malaghan Institute of Medical Research
New Zealand
Biography
Dr Christophe Pellefigues completed his PhD at the University Paris Diderot (Sorbonne Paris Cité, France). He focused on the role of basophils in lupus disease, a disorder where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues. He joined The Malaghan Institute as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in 2015, working with Professor Graham Le Gros and Professor Franca Ronchese to investigate allergic and anti-helminth Th2 immune responses.
Research Interest
I am interested in painting a better picture of the immune response to pathogens and parasites in the skin. With two billion people harbouring helminth infections worldwide, understanding these processes will help us optimize vaccines. Immune responses that fight helminth infections are also very similar to those seen in allergic diseases, which are on the rise in developed countries. Increasing our knowledge of helminth responses may contribute to understanding why allergies develop. What I love most about my research is making discoveries that contribute to improving human health. I am extremely excited that my day-to-day lab work could, one day, be helpful to people all over the world.
Publications
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Madjene LC, Pons M, Danelli L, Claver J, Ali L, Madera-Salcedo IK, Kassas A, Pellefigues C, Marquet F, Dadah, A. (2015) Mast cells in renal inflammation and fibrosis: lessons learnt from animal studies. Mol. Immunol.
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Connor LM, Tang SC, Cognard E, Ochiai S, Hilligan KL, Old SI, Pellefigues C, White RF, Patel D, Smith AA, Eccles DA, Lamiable O, McConnell MJ, Ronchese F. (2017) Th2 responses are primed by skin dendritic cells with distinct transcriptional profiles. J Exp Med.
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Dema B, Lamri Y, Pellefigues C, Pacreau E, Saidoune F, Bidault C, Karasuyama H, Sacre K, Daugas E, Charles N. (2017) Basophils contribute to pristane induced Lupus-like nephritis model. Sci. Rep.
