A multidisciplinary consortium of experts
SIGNATURE brings together a diverse team of specialists in immunology, high-content tissue imaging, mass cytometry, single cell transcriptomics, and bioinformatics, together with SMEs that are leading industrial innovation actions in the field of personalized medicine and precise diagnosis in immunemediated diseases.
This network constitutes an outstanding platform aiming at the identification of the mechanisms of non-response to therapy in autoimmune mediated disorders using single-cell technologies and advanced bioinformatics.
Marta E. Alarcón-Riquelme (GENyO)
My background in Medicine, Immunology and Genetics make a unique combination and provide me with the tools I need to successfully carry my projects. For nearly 30 years of my research career I focused in the identification of the genetic basis of SLE as a first building block towards understanding how genes lead to cellular abnormalities that eventually to clinical disease. A main goal of my research is to understand the mechanisms behind disease pathogenesis, identify new biomarkers for prediction of disease outcomes, flares and remission, and find new therapeutic targets, understanding the mechanisms of response and non-response to therapies, and define the heterogeneity of SLE. I am totally committed to the work for lupus, and I believe that only through careful longitudinal analysis of the patients, and proper molecular analyses, will we be able to advance our understanding of this disease. I am using systems biology approaches, -omics data integration and clustering, scRNASeq and other omics methods and bioinformatics approaches in my research. By coordinating large multicenter studies in Europe (PRECISESADS – 2014-2019, and 3TR – 2019-2026), I gained important experience in this and in the relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.
Marta E. Alarcón-Riquelme (GENyO)
Nadina Erill Sagalés (Atrys)
Dr. Nadina Erill is Graduate in Biology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Doctor in Biology from the University of Barcelona. She has been Head of the Oncology Diagnostic Area for many years and laboratory director at BIOpat prior to moving to Atrys, were she worked as technical director. She currently coordinates the diagnostic R&D department of Atrys and Granada laboratories. She has a wide experience in team leading, both in the diagnostic and research sides. She also has extensive experience in the implementation of quality regulations, since she leaded the first ISO 15189 implementation at the Atrys laboratory in Barcelona.
Holger Heyn (CNAG)
Dr Heyn’s Single Cell Genomics group pioneered Cellular Genomics in Spain, specializing in advanced single-cell and spatial sequencing technologies alongside computational toolkits development. By integrating genomic data from individual immune cells, they unveil cellular identities and disease roles, merging expertise in genomics, computational biology, and immunology. In the last 5 years he published 42 articles (total 120 articles, 17,975 citations, H-index of 59) and senior authored articles in world-leading journals. Supported by the EU and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), he contributes to the Human Cell Atlas (HCA) Project, creating comprehensive reference maps of human cells. He contributed the Human Tonsil Atlas (ERC Synergy), the first comprehensive reference of a secondary lymphoid organ, by cataloguing 121 distinct cell populations. He further builds atlases of the immune system (H2020 DocTIS), pancreas (H2020, ESPACE) and kidney (CZI). He co-chairs the HCA Standards and Technology Working Group, leading efforts to define best-practices of emerging single-cell and spatial technologies. Public and private (Bristol Myers Squibb, Moderna, AstraZeneca) fundings support his work to determine immune cells plasticity in oncology and inflammation. His group endeavors to translate single-cell and spatial technologies into clinical applications, developing standards and computational tools, including generative AI and interpretable machine learning models, for precision oncology. His clinical trials chart dynamics of tumor infiltrating and circulating immune cells for precision diagnostics and to develop next-generation immuno-therapies.
Holger Heyn (CNAG)
Hyun-Dong Chang (DRFZ)
I am professor for cytometry at the Institute of Biotechnology of the Technische Universität Berlin since 2020 and group leader of the Schwiete-Laboratory for Microbiota and Inflammation at the Deutsches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum Berlin (DRFZ), a Leibniz Institute since 2017. I studied biology at the Freie Universität Berlin and at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). I obtained my PhD in 2005 elucidating the regulation of expression of interleukin-10 in T helper type 1 and 2 lymphocytes in the group of Prof. Andreas Radbruch at the DRFZ and stayed as PostDoc analyzing the molecular adaptations of Th lymphocytes in chronic inflammation which allow them to persist and continuously drive inflammation. My research group focusses on the analysis of the intestinal microbiota and studying its role in the modulation of adaptive immunity in chronic inflammatory diseases. For this we have developed tools, which allow us to characterize bacteria on the single cell level to better dissect their interaction with the host.
Concepción Marañón (GENyO)
PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Granada about gene regulation and immunogenicity of the intracellular parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Six years in Institut Cochin (Paris, France) focused in cross-presentation of HIV antigens by dendritic cells. Currently senior researcher at GENYO Centre. Her main research lines are the discovery of non-invasive biomarkers and new therapies for systemic autoimmune diseases based on the immunopathological mechanisms behind these diseases.
For the discovery of biomarkers, we use high content mass cytometry (CYTOF), extracellular vesicle characterization, microbiome analysis and other immunology-related technologies. We have also developed in silico, cellular and animal preclinical models for the discovery and validation of potential targets and drugs for immune-mediated diseases.
Concepción Marañón (GENyO)
Yvan Saeys (VIB)
Yvan Saeys obtained his PhD in computer science from Ghent University. After spending time abroad at the University of the Basque Country (Spain) and the University of Lyon (France) he returned to Belgium and established the Data Mining and Modeling for Biomedicine (DAMBI) group at the VIB Center for Inflammation Research (IRC) in Gent. As of 2015, he is an associate professor at Ghent University and a principal investigator (group leader) at VIB, where he is heading an interdisciplinary research team of 25 people, consisting of mathematicians, computer scientists, engineers and bioinformaticians. He coauthored a total of 250+ article publications, and has been involved in the organization of numerous scientific events, both in the bioinformatics and machine learning communities where he is actively promoting interdisciplinary research.
The Saeys lab studies the design and application of novel data mining and machine learning techniques, motivated by specific questions in biology and medicine. In the field of systems immunology, the group develops new computational approaches to unravel the regulatory landscape of immune cell differentiation and functioning.
Jesper Kers (LUMC)
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Jesper Kers (LUMC)
Christophe Jamin (UBO)
B.Sc., PhD, I am an assistant professor in immunology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Brest. I am a teacher researcher in the U1227 research unit entitled "Lymphocytes B, Autoimmunité et Immunothérapies", which belongs to France's largest National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM). My work focuses on the pathophysiology of B cells and is dedicated to understanding their regulatory functions, particularly in autoimmunity situations. I have also a strong expertise in flow cytometry and developed new approaches to flow cytometry data management. Work-package leader and member of the steering committee in the IMI PRECISESADS project (2014-2019) and participant in the IMI 3TR project (2019-2026), I have published over 100 articles in international peer-reviewed journals with the aim of better understanding the involvement of B cells in autoimmune diseases and optimizing the indications for immunotherapy in autoimmunity.
Francesco Pappalardo (UNICT)
Francesco Pappalardo is currently full professor of Computer Science at the Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, where he also holds the position of Deputy Director of the Department. He is also adjunct professor at the Boston University and Health Informatics Research Lab, Computer Science Department, and at Menzies Health Institute, Griffith University, Australia. Research activity of Francesco Pappalardo is focused on the application of computational models in the field of systems biomedicine. He is one of the pioneers of in silico trials, where he currently also deals with regulatory aspects with the European authorities. He is recipient of several European Commission funded projects as well as projects funded by pharmaceutical companies and industries in the ICT sector
Francesco Pappalardo (UNICT)
Giulia Russo (UNICT)
Giulia Russo is a Computer Science Assistant Professor of the University of Catania, Dept. of Drug and Health Sciences. Her interest is focused on computational modelling in biomedical sciences with a particular attention in modelling methodologies at the molecular and cellular level in the context of infectious disease, immunotoxicants and autoimmunity. She is also involved in the fine-tuning and the regulatory qualification approval of UISS-TB, a simulation platform capable to test specific vaccines against tuberculosis, reducing and optimizing costs and resources in the critical sector of public healthcare. Up to now, she published about 76 scientific papers and actually she is Adjunct Research Fellow at Griffith University, Australia.
Pierre-Emmanuel Jouve (ALTRABIO)
PhD (Computer Science – Machine Learning), Pierre has over 20 years of experience in computer sciences and data analysis for R&D in both academic and industrial healthcare contexts (focus on machine learning for science data of life, computer vision and computer-assisted diagnosis).
After his PhD, Pierre started working as an R&D team leader in a French company developing tools for computer-assisted diagnosis of breast cancer (thus working in areas such as machine learning and computer vision). At AltraBio, Pierre leverages his skills primarily by leading cytometry data analyses. He has developed several algorithms/pipelines to perform various analyzes ranging from manual gating automation (automated gating pipeline applied on over 250,000 FCS files for various partners and different data types: conventional flow cytometry data, mass and spectral flow cytometry), Quality Control, to biomarker discovery (specific pipelines enabling deeper and better analyses applied in various fields such as vaccine design, immunotherapy, etc.). He also participates in other analyzes of single cell data (e.g. automated cell type classification for single cell RNA sequencing data, identification of biomarkers with machine learning).
He is enthusiastic to participate in the signature project which he considersas both a stimulating and enriching opportunity for new fruitful collaborations as well as for knowledge transmission by contributing to the doctoral training of Akhiya AR.
Pierre-Emmanuel Jouve (ALTRABIO)
