Research - Our Team

Carlota Dobaño is the head of the 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.

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, mode of action, correlates of protection of malaria vaccines and systems biology
•  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

•  Dobaño C, Sanz H, Sorgho H et al. “Concentration and avidity of antibodies to different cirumsporozoite epitopes correlate with RTS,S/ASO1E malaria vaccine efficacy”. Nature Communications. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-10195-z.
•  Dobaño C, Nhabomba AJ, Manaca MN, Berthoud T, Aguilar R, Quintó L, Barbosa A, Rodríguez MH, Jiménez A, Groves PL, Santano R, Bassat Q, Aponte JJ, Guinovart C, Doolan DL, Alonso PL. A balanced pro-inflammatory and regulatory cytokine signature in young African children is associated with lower risk of clinical malaria. Clin Infect Dis. 2018 Oct 31. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciy934.
•  Ubillos I, Ayestaran A, Nhabomba AJ, Dosoo D, Vidal M, Jiménez A, Jairoce C, Sanz H, Aguilar R, Williams NA, Díez-Padrisa N, Mpina M, Sorgho H, Agnandji ST, Kariuki S, Mordmüller B, Daubenberger C, Asante KP, Owusu-Agyei S, Sacarlal J, Aide P, Aponte JJ, Dutta S, Gyan B, Campo JJ, Valim C, Moncunill G, Dobaño C. Baseline exposure, antibody subclass, and hepatitis B response differentially affect malaria protective immunity following RTS,S/AS01E vaccination in African children. BMC Med. 2018 Oct 31;16(1):197. doi: 10.1186/s12916-018-1186-4.
•  Moncunill G, Mpina M, Nhabomba AJ, Aguilar R, Ayestaran A, Sanz H, Campo JJ, Jairoce C, Barrios D, Dong Y, Díez-Padrisa N, Fernandes JF, Abdulla S, Sacarlal J, Williams NA, Harezlak J, Mordmüller B, Agnandji ST, Aponte JJ, Daubenberger C, Valim C, Dobaño C. Distinct Helper T Cell Type 1 and 2 Responses Associated With Malaria Protection and Risk in RTS,S/AS01E Vaccinees. Clin Infect Dis. 2017 Sep 1;65(5):746-755. doi: 10.1093/cid/cix429.
•  Doolan DL, Dobaño C, Baird JK.Acquired immunity to malaria. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2009 Jan;22(1):13-36, doi: 10.1128/CMR.00025-08.