• Oct 16 -  FHEA 
• Feb 07-  PhD in Molecular Oncology and Endocrinology - University of Naples 
                 Federico II (Italy)          
• Oct 02 -  Medical Biotechnology Degree -(combined 5-year BSc and MSc
                 programme, 1^st class Honours) - University of Naples Federico II (Italy)
• Jul 97 -   Classical Humanities High School Diploma - Virgilio Institute, Lecce
                 (Italy)

Dr Mauro graduated from the University of Naples “Federico II” in Italy with a combined 5-year BSc and MSc degree in Medical Biotechnology in 2002 followed by a PhD in Molecular Oncology and Endocrinology in 2007.

During his PhD (2002-07) Dr Mauro studied the pro-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic response controlled by the NF-kB family of transcription factors. In these studies he discovered novel mechanisms of activation of NF-kB downstream of TNF receptors and upon endoplasmic reticulum stress as well as the contribution of NF-kB activity to thyroid tumourigenesis (Biochem Biophys Res Comm 2003, J Biol Chem 2004, J Biol Chem 2006a, J Biol Chem 2006b, J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2008).

During his post-doc (2007-11) – supported in part by a Foundation Fellowship awarded from the Italian Association for Cancer Research – he worked both at the University of Chicago in the USA and Imperial College London at the identification of the molecular mechanisms linking inflammation and metabolism in the adaptive immune system and in cancer (Proc Natl Acad Sci 2010, Nat Cell Biol 2011).

In 2011 he moved to the William Harvey Research Institute at the Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary, University of London, where he focused on the investigation of the metabolic control of immune cell effector functions and the implications of the metabolic dependence of immune responses in inflammatory conditions. Through this work he obtained a prestigious Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellowship from the British Heart Foundation in 2012 (running until 2019) alongside other competitive research grants, and published a number of papers in the field (e.g., Mol Cell Proteomics 2014, PLoS Biol 2015, Trends Biochem Sci 2016, Eur J Immunol 2016, Cell Metab 2017, Nat Comm 2017, Immunity 2017).

In 2018 he joined the Institute of Inflammation and Aging at the University of Birmingham as a Professional Research Fellow in Metabolism and Inflammation

Dr Mauro has supervised the following individuals during their MSc, PhD or during their post-doc. The current position of post members of the group is noted in brackets:

Post-graduate students

• Feb 18 – current       Ms Bono, MSc Immunology
• Jan 15 – Sep 15        Ms Poojara, MRes Inflammation (then research assistant at
                                    Imperial College London)
• Jan 15 – Sep 15        Ms Macdougall, MRes Inflammation (then BHF-funded PhD
                                    student) at Queen Mary, University of London
• Jan 14 – Sep 14        Ms Mistry, MRes Inflammation (2nd supervisor), (then PhD
                                    student) at Queen Mary, University of London

 PhD students

• Mar 16 – current         Dr Pucino (MD), AR-UK Clinical Research Fellow
• Oct 15 – current          Ms Ward, BHF-funded PhD student (2nd supervisor)
• Dec 12 – Mar16          Dr Haas, MRC-funded PhD student ( then post-doc at The
                                      Francis Crick Institute)
• Feb 12 – Oct 15          Dr Cheung, BHF-funded PhD student (2nd supervisor), (then
                                      post-doc at Queen Mary, University of London) 

Post-Doctoral Fellows

• Jun 17 – current          Dr Certo, BHF-funded post-doc
• Aug 16 – Jul 18           Dr Cucchi, BHF-funded post-doc (then post-doc at the Barts Cancer Institute, Queen
                                      Mary , University of London)
• Apr 13 – Mar 17          Dr Smith, BHF-funded Graduate Research Assistant(then
                                      Higher Scientific Officer at The Institute of Cancer Research Sutton)
• Oct 14 – Jul 16            Dr Cucchi, Institute Pasteur Foundation Cenci-Bolognetti
                                      Post-doctoral Fellow (then post-doc in my group)

 We will be recruiting 1 PhD student and 1 post-doc. If you are interested in studying/working with Dr Mauro please contact him directly on the contact details above, or for any general doctoral research enquiries, please email: dr@contacts.bham.ac.uk or call +44 (0)121 414 5005.

The research in Dr Mauro’s group focuses on the interconnections between metabolic and inflammatory pathways and how systemic and cellular metabolic alterations in diseases with an inflammatory component lead to aberrant immune cell responses, which favour both the establishment and the propagation of inflammation. In particular, we investigate the mechanisms of metabolic control of T cell-mediated immune responses, including migration, differentiation and cytokine production in physiology and under metabolic stress.

One key area of our research is how small metabolites, like lactate, which accumulates locally in the inflamed tissue or systemically during acute and chronic inflammation, can impact the fate of the immune-inflammatory response via induction of  intracellular metabolic rewiring with immediate effect on broad range human diseases.

Another important aspect of the research is how fatty acids can impact the outcomes of an immune response, with repercussions on obesity-related diseases.

Our studies indicate that interfering with metabolic pathways (i.e., lipid, glucose and oxidative metabolism) alters immune cell effector functions and can be exploited for therapy (PLoS Biol 2015, Cell Metab 2017, Nat Comm 2017). 

Editorial Board Member:

• Clinical and Experimental Immunology
• British Journal of Pharmacology
• Frontiers in Immunology
• Cell Stress

Committee Panel Member:

•  Arthritis Research UK Foundation Fellowships