Spotlight on Dr Stefano Caserta
Research Fellow in Infection & Immunology at Brighton and Sussex Medical School
Previous Research
I decided to go for the Pharmaceutical Biotechnology degree because I realised it would be a research-intensive course, and I really like doing a challenging job. As part of my integrated master’s degree, I had to do an internship in an Immunology lab. There, I fell in love with Immunology and research. That’s the beauty of research, it always gives us new stimulating questions to explore. It’s a lifelong learning curve that keeps my mind continually active.
Immunology studies how our immune system protects us from pathogens (infectious germs). One of the most fascinating aspects of the immune system is that immune cells are present in virtually every organ of our body, where they are involved in processes of health and disease. During my internship in the Immunology lab, I studied and developed microparticle systems to deliver drugs to the different organs of the body. In particular, I explored how to target immune cells of the body with microparticle systems that facilitate the rejection of growing cancers. Straight after my masters I decided to do a PhD in Immunology. During my PhD, I studied how immune cells recognise and activate against cancer, and how we can enhance transplantation therapies using a certain type of immune cells, known as T cells, to treat cancer.
Current Research
My current research is focused on Sepsis, a devastating condition, which affects and kills more people than the top 3 cancers combined - a fact not generally known in the public. Sepsis starts with infection. This means that the germs that are normally in the environment can enter our body and replicate, eventually spreading to several organs, or the whole body. This causes severe disease and can be lethal in around 37% of the people who experience Sepsis. Sepsis is a burden that is global; it affects ~26 millions of people every year, in all different parts of the world. Also the frequency of Sepsis is increasing worldwide, due to aging populations and because the germs are becoming resistant to antibiotics. In the UK, more than 40 thousands people die to Sepsis every year.
The key element of my research is trying to understand how our body reacts to the infecting germs during Sepsis. One of the reasons why this is such a devastating condition with no cure, is that we still don’t fully understand how our body reacts during Sepsis. A second reason why Sepsis burden is so severe is the lack of highly efficient diagnostic tools for Sepsis. Not unfrequently, diagnosis can be inaccurate and often timing is critical to provide life-saving therapy to the patients. By understanding the way in which our immune system reacts against the invading pathogens, we will be able to design innovative and better therapies for Sepsis.
In my research I’m studying how molecules, known as micro-RNAs, behave during Sepsis. Micro-RNAs are small molecules that regulate many different mechanisms during our body development, in disease, as well as during homeostasis (normal conditions). Also micro-RNAs can be released by our body cells into the blood, but it’s not understood what micro-RNAs do in the blood. Many people think that the micro-RNAs may be signallers that act at distance in between the cells of the body. I’ve been studying how micro-RNAs are regulated during Sepsis in the blood circulation of the patients.
I found that, based on the way in which the micro-RNAs behave in the blood, it is now possible to diagnose Sepsis much more easily than what it used to be before. In fact, it’s not always clear whether individuals in intensive care units have Sepsis or other similar conditions. My work shows that the levels of micro-RNAs in the blood are massively reduced in patients with Sepsis, compared to other patients from the same intensive care unit. Thanks to my research, we now know that it is possible to diagnose Sepsis earlier and more efficiently, which will lead to better treatment options for individuals with Sepsis. So, improving Sepsis diagnosis by using the micro-RNAs is novel because it will enable clinicians to differentiate between patient groups more accurately, in order to give the correct therapy.
The long-term aim of my research is to give patients with Sepsis the best opportunity to recover, especially considering that these individuals are severely ill and have a number of organs that are affected by the disease. My research suggests that it is the way in which our immune cells deal with the infecting germs that changes the distribution of micro-RNAs in the blood. This gives us information about the way in which our immune system is trying to deal with the germs. If we can decode this information, then we will design new therapies to help Sepsis recovery by modulating the way in which our immune cells are reacting to the pathogens.
The Future
My personal professional aspirations would be to go on with my research and become an independent scientist by establishing my research group and lab. I wish to set up my research group in an academic institution, attracting postdocs and PhD students so that we can progress the study of intercellular communication mechanisms in immune cells. Particularly the mechanisms of exchange of micro-RNAs that can change the way in which the immune cells behave in different diseases -not just in Sepsis, but also in cancer. It is a very fascinating area, so that’s how I see the future of my research.
I also have aspirations to become a better teacher and to be able to inspire my students to approach research and share the love for research that I have as well. I graduated recently with my PG-cert-HE from the University of Sussex with distinction, so now I am officially a Sussex graduate! What I like the most about teaching is the fact that it opens up a more empathetic part of our profession. As researchers, we are mostly focused on our lab experiments, papers and grant applications. Often this doesn’t give us much opportunity to show our empathetic side or our social skills, whereas being a teacher in academia opens up those opportunities and it is fantastic from that perspective. Also, I feel that teaching in a research-informed manner triggers a reflection about our wider research horizons, and the impact that our research can have in our society.
Interview by Alex Aghajanian