Research - Our Team

Gemma Moncunill is a Ramón y Cajal Fellow and Associate Research Professor in the Malaria Immunology Group at ISGlobal. Her research focuses on the immunological and molecular determinants of vaccine responses, as well as mechanisms of susceptibility and immunity to malaria and other infectious diseases, using systems immunology approaches. She has participated in more than 30 research projects, leading national and multicenter international studies in malaria and COVID-19 immunology. Since 2024, she has co-led the Biomarkers and Immune Response Core Facility at ISGlobal.

She obtained her degree in Biology from the Universitat de Barcelona in 2004 and completed her PhD in Immunology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 2009. During her doctoral training, she investigated the mechanisms of action of novel HIV drugs at the IrsiCaixa Research Institute.

In 2009, she joined ISGlobal as a postdoctoral fellow in the Malaria Immunology Group, collaborating with the Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM) in Mozambique to study cellular immune responses to malaria and identify immunological biomarkers using advanced multiparametric techniques.

From 2013 to 2014, she was a visiting researcher at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center (Seattle, USA), where she optimized high-dimensional flow cytometry panels and evaluated T cell responses to the RTS,S malaria vaccine.

Between 2015 and 2017, she held a postdoctoral position at the Children & Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada), where she led studies examining the impact of HIV and malaria exposure on immune responses in pregnant women and their infants.

Lines of research

• Immune variability and determinants of vaccine responses and  protection
• Immunity and vaccine responses to malaria, COVID-19 and helminthiasis
• Impact of chronic and repetitive exposure to infections and coinfections on the phenotype and function of B and T cell subsets as well as innate cells such as monocytes
• Immunopathological mechanisms and biomarkers of long COVID
• Immunopathological mechanisms and biomarkers of noma

Main publications

• Macià D, Campo JJ, Jairoce C, Mpina M, Sorgho H, Dosoo D, Agnandji ST, Kusi KA, Molinos-Albert LM, Kariuki S, Daubenberger C, Mordmüller B, Moncunill G*, Dobaño C*. The effect of Plasmodium falciparum exposure and maternal anti-circumsporozoite protein antibodies on responses to RTS,S/AS01E vaccination in infants and children: an ancillary observational immunological study to a phase 3, randomised clinical trial. Lancet Infect Dis. 2024 Oct 23:S1473-3099(24)00527-9. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(24)00527-9. *Shared coauthorship
• Moncunill G, Carnes J, Chad Young W, Carpp L, De Rosa S, Campo JJ, Nhabomba A, Mpina M, Jairoce C, Finak G, Haas P, Muriel C, Van P, Sanz H, Dutta S, Mordmüller B, Agnandji ST, Díez-Padrisa N, Williams NA, Aponte JJ, Valim C, Neafsey DE, Daubenberger C, McElrath MJ, Dobaño C, Stuart K, Gottardo R. Transcriptional correlates of malaria in RTS,S/AS01-vaccinated African children: a matched case-control study. Elife. 2022 Jan 21;11:e70393. doi: 10.7554/eLife.70393.
• Santano R, Rubio R, Grau-Pujol B, Escola V, Muchisse O, Cuamba I, Vidal M, Ruiz-Olalla G, Aguilar R, Gandasegui J, Demontis M, Jamine JC, Cossa A, Sacoor C, Cano J, Izquierdo L, Chitnis CE, Coppel RL, Chauhan V, Cavanagh D, Dutta S, Angov E, van Lieshout L, Zhan B, Muñoz J, Dobaño C, Moncunill G. Evaluation of antibody serology to determine current helminth and Plasmodium falciparum infections in a co-endemic area in Southern Mozambique. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Jun 21;16(6):e0010138. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010138. 
• Ortega N, Ribes M, Vidal M, Rubio R, Aguilar R, Williams S, Barrios D, Alonso S, Hernández-Luis P, Mitchell RA, Jairoce C, Cruz A, Jimenez A, Santano R, Méndez S, Lamoglia M, Rosell N, Llupià A, Puyol L, Chi J, Melero NR, Parras D, Serra P, Pradenas E, Trinité B, Blanco J, Mayor A, Barroso S, Varela P, Vilella A, Trilla A, Santamaria P, Carolis C, Tortajada M, Izquierdo L, Angulo A, Engel P, García-Basteiro AL, Moncunill G*, Dobaño C*. Seven-month kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and role of pre-existing antibodies to human coronaviruses. Nat Commun. 2021 Aug 6;12(1):4740. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24979-9. *Shared authorship
• Moncunill G, Scholzen A, Mpina M, Nhabomba A, Hounkpatin AB, Osaba L, Valls R, Campo JJ, Sanz H, Jairoce C, Williams NA, Pasini EM, Arteta D, Maynou J, Palacios L, Duran-Frigola M, Aponte JJ, Kocken CHM, Agnandji ST, Mas JM, Mordmüller B, Daubenberger C, Sauerwein R, Dobaño C. Antigen-stimulated PBMC transcriptional protective signatures for malaria immunization. Sci Transl Med. 2020 May 13;12(543):eaay8924. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aay8924.