Elena Brenna

I graduated with a BSc in Biology and I specialised in Biomedical Research with a MSc from the University of Milan, Italy. At the time of my Master Degree I had an internship in Federica Sallusto laboratory and Dr Tess Brodie in Bellinzona, Switzerland, where the focus of our research was to characterize and quantitate T helper cells in different allergic responses and analyse the specificity and the functionality of allergen-specific CD4⁺ T helper cells.

I moved to Oxford in Prof Andrew McMichael Viral Immunology laboratory as a research assistant with Dr Suzanne Campion, where we studied pre-existing repertoires of HIV-1 specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells. At the University of Oxford, I also completed my DPhil in Clinical Medicine under the supervision of Prof Andrew McMichael, Prof Persephone Borrow and Dr Suzanne Campion. The research project was to investigate T follicular helper cell biology from different human tissues through a variety of different functional and phenotypical approaches and to develop T cell receptor sequencing and clonotyping techniques.

As a post-doctoral researcher in Prof Andrew McMichael and Prof Persephone Borrow Viral Immunology laboratory I mainly focus my research on the development of HIV-1 broadly neutralising antibodies, by analysing the CD4⁺ T follicular helper cells specificity and repertoire and performing quantitative analysis of HIV-1-specific CD4⁺ T cell in HVTN106 clinical trial to determine the impact of different vaccination regimes designed.

In addition, we collaborate with Prof Michael Dustin (Kennedy Institute, Oxford) to investigate T and B cell contact in the immunological synapses using different co-culture techniques and high-resolution technology.