Research - Our Team

Carlota Dobaño is the head of the ISGlobal Malaria Immunology Group and coordinates large multicenter studies on naturally acquired and experimentally immunity to malaria. She is also faculty on MSc Global Health, Vaccinology Module, and the Director of the Core Facility on Immune Response and Biomarkers at ISGlobal.

In 1992 she graduated in Pharmacy and Pharmacology at the Universitat de Barcelona. In 1994 she completed an MSc in Applied Molecular Biology of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, developing her thesis project at Anthony Holder’s lab in the Departament of Parasitology, NIMR, MRC, London. In 1999 she obtained her PhD degree at the laboratory of Jana McBride (University of Edinburgh, Scotland) in the study of immune responses to Plasmodium falciparum, with research work conducted at the Malaria Project and Wellcome Trust Centre, Blantyre, Malawi, in collaboration with Malcolm Molyneux and Terrie Taylor.

During 1999-2002 she was a postdoctoral fellow working on malaria vaccine development at the laboratory of Denise Doolan, Malaria Program, Naval Medical Research Center, USA, directed by Stephen Hoffman. In 2003 she joined ISGlobal and the Manhiça Health Research Centre, Mozambique.

Lines of research

• Immunogenicity, mechanism of action, correlation between vaccines for protection against malaria, neglected tropical diseases and COVID-19, and biological systems.
• Naturally-acquired immunity to malaria during infancy and pregnancy, including impact of control tools.
• Immune responses to controlled human malaria infections.
• Determinants of development of the immune system in infants.
• Effect of malaria and coinfections on the immune system.
• Biomarkers of infection, disease and pathogenesis.
• Development of multiplex and multiparametric functional immune assays and analytical tools.

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, S1473-3099(24)00527-9. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(24)00527-9. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(24)00527-9/abstract
• 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, 11:e70393. doi: 10.7554/eLife.70393. https://elifesciences.org/articles/70393
• Moncunill G, Aguilar R, Ribes M, Ortega N, Rubio R, Salmerón G, Molina MJ, Vidal M, Barrios D, Mitchell RA, Jiménez A, Castellana C, Hernández-Luis P, Rodó P, Méndez S, Llupià A, Puyol L, Rodrigo Melero N, Carolis C, Mayor A, Izquierdo L, Varela P, Trilla A, Vilella A, Barroso S, Angulo A, Engel P, Tortajada M, García-Basteiro AL, Dobaño C. Determinants of early antibody responses to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in a cohort of exposed and naïve healthcare workers. EBioMedicine. 2022, 75:103805. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103805. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(21)00599-5/fulltext
• 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, 12(1):4740. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24979-9. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24979-9
• 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, 12(543):eaay8924. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aay8924. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.aay8924