WEHI Wednesday Seminar hosted by Dr Rhea Longley

Dr Camila Coelho
Assistant Professor – Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York City, USA) 

Discovery and Targeting of Human B Cell Epitopes to Counter Emerging Threats

 

Davis Auditorium

Join via SLIDO enter code #WEHIWednesday

Including Q&A session

Please note this presentation will not be recorded
 

The rapid emergence of viral threats such as Mpox, Oropouche, and Avian influenza demonstrates a critical gap in our understanding of how different vaccine platforms and natural infections shape durable, protective immunity in humans. While remarkable advances have been made in immunological tools to prevent and treat infectious diseases, the molecular and functional determinants that govern high-quality antibody responses remain incompletely defined, especially for pathogens with pandemic potential. Dissecting these determinants is not only key to optimizing current vaccine strategies but also essential for anticipating and mitigating future outbreaks through the rational design of next-generation vaccines and therapeutic antibodies. 

At the Coelho lab, by integrating in-depth molecular immunology, single-cell technologies, and functional studies, we link antibody genetic signatures to their structural binding profiles, effector functions, and protective outcomes. This approach provides a framework for dissecting the immunological principles that underpin broadly protective humoral immunity, knowledge that can inform countermeasures against emerging infectious diseases.  

Dr Camila Coelho is an Assistant Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she leads a research group investigating how human B cells and antibodies protect against emerging and re-emerging pathogens. She earned her PhD from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) and completed postdoctoral training at Georgetown University, at the NIH, and at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, making key discoveries in malaria antibody biology and human B cell responses to COVID-19 vaccination. She serves on multiple grant review panels and reviews for leading journals in the field of infectious disease immunology. She was recently named a Sinsheimer Scholar (2025) and received the Rising Star Award from the International Union of Immunological Societies (2025), the American Association of Immunologists ASPIRE Award (2026), and was selected as a Keystone Fellow (2026).

All welcome!