Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases
DIRECTOR: Ruggero Pardi
DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Adriano Lazzarin

The Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases (DITID) stems from a deeply integrated area of Institutional research at the San Raffaele, dating back to the inception of DIBIT and making up the scientific core of areas of intense clinical investigation, which include, but are not limited to, cancer, type 1 diabetes, allergy, cell and solid organ transplantation and HIV infection. Although the contribution of a normal or deranged immune response to the pathogenesis of the above conditions is highly heterogeneous, common themes emerge, thus justifying the creation of a scientific and cultural environment where pre-clinical models, technology platforms and specific know-how pertinent to immunology can be optimized to achieve critical mass, to develop higher education programs and to promote innovative research outcomes, both in preclinical research and in the clinical settings.

Based on these premises, the comprehensive goal and unifying mission of the DITID is to harness the immune response for the benefit of patients. To this aim, the DITID will foster research efforts and development of new technologies aimed at dissecting the mechanisms underlying the immune response to infectious agents, cancer- and transplantation-associated antigens, as well as the dysregulation of the processes leading to peripheral tolerance to self-antigens. Validation of these basic discoveries will require standardization of pre-clinical models and extensive analysis of human immune cells and tissues. The most promising findings will be translated into proof-of-concept designs for phase I/II clinical trials.

To achieve its goals, the DITID will structure selected research activities into a limited set of Research Programs, aimed at fostering interdisciplinary research and strong integration of pre-clinical and clinical investigations. The Islet Transplantation Program (ITP) aims at achieving long-lasting insulin independence in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) undergoing portal vein islet transplantation. Recognized experts in islet transplantation, immunological tolerance, liver immunopathology and non-invasive imaging have been brought together to address and modify innate and adaptive immune responses to islet transplants that together prevent lifelong persistence of functional islets within the liver, as well as to identify potentially novel and safer implantation sites.

The Program of Immunology and Bio-immunotherapy of Cancer (PIBIC) is promoted jointly by the DITID and the Division of Molecular Oncology. The major goals of the PIBIC are twofold: i. a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying the tumor/immune system interactions; and ii. the provision of new immunotherapy strategies that are rationally designed to increase significantly the therapeutic efficacy of the current ones.

A third Program soon to be launched stems from the recognition of a critical mass of basic and applied investigators already ongoing in this Division and in the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases on the role of CCR5 and its ligands in HIV infection and related clinical entities. The Program is named “Correlates of HIV-associated Immune Response Modulation” (CHARM). General goals of CHARM are the investigation and exploitation of the role of CCR5 and its natural or chemical ligands in HIV infection and in infection-related inflammation.