Dr. Nina Le Bert, Senior Research Fellow at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.
Dr. Nina Le Bert, Senior Research Fellow at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.
This is a summary of the curriculum vitae (CV) of Dr. Nina Le Bert, PhD, Senior Research Fellow in the Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. On April 22, she will give a presentation at Fujita Health University about T cell immunity after COVID-19 infection or vaccination.
Dr. Le Bert is a human immunologist with a specific interest in the role of antigen-specific T and B cells in control and pathogenesis of viral infections.
She is a member of the research group of Professor Antonio Bertoletti at Duke-NUS Medical School since 2014. This group used to be specialized in T cell immunity against hepatitis B virus (HBV), but since the COVID-19 pandemic has been studying T cell immunity against the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2). Although the group is not big, they can probably be considered among the top five groups worldwide in studying this very important topic. Dr. Le Bert is a senior member of the group, and on T cell immunity in COVID-19 has first-author papers in Nature and Journal of Experimental Medicine. International recognition of her work was expressed in 2021 by her receiving of, together with Prof. Bertoletti, the Boulle-SEI International Award from the Spanish Society of Immunology.
Dr. Le Bert is from Germany and studied Biology at the University of Berlin. She was awarded a Marie Curie Early Stage Research Fellowship allowing her to train as a PhD student at the Division of Infection & Immunity at the University College London (UK). During this time, she studied how differential priming of dendritic cells alters the profile of T cell functions. In 2012 she moved to Singapore, joining initially Dr. Stephan Gasser’s laboratory at the National University of Singapore, investigating the role of cytosolic DNA in immune activation. Since 2014 she is working in Prof. Bertoletti’s laboratory at Duke-NUS Medical School.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, her research has been focused on the characterization of SARS-CoV2-specific T cell responses in COVID-19 and SARS convalescents and in various cohorts of individuals pre and post vaccination. She first showed that SARS-CoV-2 induces robust T cell responses and that infection with coronaviruses induces long-lasting memory T cells. Furthermore, the team observed that early and highly functional virus-specific T cells correlate with rapid viral clearance and asymptomatic/mild infections. In addition, their induction by vaccination correlates with the onset of vaccine efficacy, hence all advocating for a protective role of T cells. The development of a rapid test allows to monitor the cellular immune response in large populations, which revealed highly variable T cell responses to vaccination and infection within greatly homologous cohorts.
In the coming years she is interested in pursuing three areas: 1) Exploit T cells in therapy against viral diseases; 2) Define correlates of antigen-specific T cell function in viral infections with protection leading to diagnostic tests for clinical management; 3) Study the underlying causes for variable immune responses to vaccination and infection.
I am very happy and grateful that she will give a presentation at Fujita Health University. Immune memory against viruses derives from both B cells (antibodies) and T cells, and in many instances the latter are more important. Many researchers study antibody responses against COVID-19 viruses and vaccines, but relatively few researchers study T cell responses because those are more difficult to investigate. Therefore, listening to Dr. Le Bert will be a unique opportunity for us to learn how this critical arm of the immune system helps our bodies fight the ongoing pandemic.
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION:
1999-2005 Freie UniversitätBerlin, Germany
Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree (Diplom) in Biological Sciences; Grade 1 (first
class). Main subjects: Microbiology, Genetics, Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology, and Biopsychology
2002-2003 University of Wales, Swansea, UK
Study at the Institute of Life Sciences (Socrates/Erasmus Scholarship)
Modules: Cell- and Immuno-Biology, Immunology Concepts, Applied
Immunology, Microbial Genetics, Gene Manipulation, Human and Medical
Genetics, Physiology and Biochemistry of Neurons, Neuroscience
2004-2005 Freie Universität Berlin, Germany & Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris,
France. Master’s Thesis at the Institute of Biology; Grade 1 (first class) (DAAD
Fellowship). Supervisors: Prof. Günter Korge, Dr. Günther Roth and Dr. Chantal
Dauphin-Villemanth
2006-2011 University CollegeLondon, UK
PhD at the Division of Infection & Immunity (Marie Curie Early Stage Research
Fellowship). Supervisors:Prof. Graham Rook and Dr. Mahdad Noursadeghi
Title: Dendritic cell mediated modulation of immune responses by
Mycobacterium vaccae
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
2005-2006 Ernst & Young (EY), Mannheim, Germany
Assistant Biotechnology Analyst, Health Sciences Team
• Market Research: German Biotechnology Report 2006 and the European
part of the Global Biotechnology Report 2006; Responsibilities: Article writing
about emerging biotechnologies and markets, composition and evaluation of
questionnaires, data administration with MS-Access, data analysis and
appraisal of research results, internet research, communication with biotech
companies on national and international level
2012-2014 Research Fellow, Immunology Programme, Department of Microbiology,
National University of Singapore
Supervisor: A/P Dr Stephan Gasser
• Role of cytosolic DNA in cancer cells and the downstream signal
This is a summary of the curriculum vitae (CV) of Prof. Nina Grace Jablonski, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University. She will give a presentation at Fujita Health University.
Ms. Asuka Inukai, who works in the administration at FHU, is also an accomplished amateur photographer. She has taken beautiful pictures of the little ducklings that swim in our ponds each year.
