Ester Ballana Guix

Dr. Ester Ballana graduated in Biology from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in 2001 and obtained her PhD in Health and Life Sciences from Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG)- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in 2007. Her scientific and professional career has been focused on the study of biological processes and mechanisms associated with health and disease, gaining relevant experience in various areas of biomedicine, such as genetics and genomics (PhD period, Center for Genomic Regulation, 2002-2007) and virology and immunity (postdoc, IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, 2007-2012). In addition, as an important part of her scientific training, Dr. Ballana has been working in various international research centers such as the "Institut des Neurosciences" in Montpellier, France, under the supervision of Prof. Jean Luc Puel (2003), TIGEM-Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine in Naples, Italy, under the supervision of Professor Paolo Gasparini (2004) and as a Visiting Scientist at King's College London, in collaboration with Prof. Thomas Schlitt and Prof. Christopher Mathew (2012). In January 2015, she was got a Miguel Servet fellowship and since 2020 she is a group leader at IrsiCaixa – IGTP. Her current research interests are focused on the study of immune dysfunction in human diseases, especially viral infections and cancer.