MariaPilar (Pilar) Alcaide Alonso, Ph.D.

Dr. Alcaide received her PhD in Molecular Biology from Universidad Autonoma of Madrid, Spain, where she studied the immunological aspects of Trypanosoma cruzi infection, the protozoan parasite that causes Chagas disease. As a recipient of a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Alcaide trained in Dr. F.W Luscinskas laboratory in the Center for Excellence in Vascular Biology at the Brigham and Women’s hospital where she trained in vascular biology and studied   how different types of leukocytes are recruited into tissues during the immune response, as well as how junctional molecules expressed in endothelial cells can actively regulate the passage of leukocytes, which is a critical process during inflammation. After completion of her postdoctoral research training, Dr. Alcaide was appointed to Instructor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and two years later joined the faculty at MCRI. The Alcaide lab combines the areas of immunology and vascular biology to study several aspects of recruitment of T lymphocytes in diverse inflammatory settings based on their interactions with the activating endothelium.  The over-arching goal in the lab is to better understand the processes that take place during T lymphocyte recruitment in both the immune cells and the activated endothelium, and how those can potentially be targeted in therapeutically useful ways. We are particularly interested in understanding how Th 17 cells, a highly inflammatory T cell type, differ from other T cell subsets and leukocytes in their interactions with endothelial cells and during migration to inflammatory sites. The lab combines in vitro flow systems and videomicroscopy to study leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions, and several in vivo mouse models of inflammation.  Dr. Alcaide successfully competed for one of the extremely competitive NIH K99/R00 awards while in Dr. Luscinskas’ lab, and joined the MCRI in September 2011 to establish her independent research program.   

Research Administrator:  Patricia Griffiths-Rossiter