Distinguished scientist with deep expertise in innate immunity and its role in neurodegenerative diseases
Dublin (IE), Cambridge (UK): Inflazome (inflazome.com), the pioneering inflammasome company, announces the appointment of distinguished scientist, Prof. Marco Colonna M.D. to its Scientific Advisory Board. Prof. Colonna has deep expertise and extensive experience in innate immunity. His team is responsible for the innovative discovery of Triggering Receptors Expressed on Myeloid cells (TREM), important regulators of the innate immune response. Prof. Colonna is currently investigating TREM’s link to Alzheimer’s Disease at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, where he has been a Professor of Pathology and Immunology since 2001.
With the appointment of Prof. Colonna, Inflazome continues to strengthen its Scientific Advisory Board, a collaboration of eminent, world renowned scientists who will work closely with the management team as Inflazome prepares to advance its lead product candidates into clinical studies later this year.
On his appointment Prof. Colonna commented: “Neurodegenerative diseases are growing at an alarming rate. A small molecule that crosses the blood brain barrier and inhibits NLRP3 in the brain has the potential to open a new exciting avenue for therapeutic intervention. I am delighted to join the Inflazome Scientific Advisory Board to help advance this potential”.
Prof Luke O’Neill, Co-Founder and CSO of Inflazome, commented: “I am delighted to welcome Marco to Inflazome’s SAB. He brings a wealth of experience in the molecular and cellular basis of innate immunity, especially in the Central Nervous System. He will bring tremendous new insights into our research and clinical programs”.
About Prof. Marco Colonna
Prof. Marco Colonna, born in Parma, Italy, received his medical degree at Parma University and completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School (Cambridge, MA, USA). He became a scientific member of the Basel Institute for Immunology in Basel, Switzerland. Since 2001 he has been a Professor of Pathology & Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. Prof. Colonna’s research focuses on immunoreceptors. In this field, his accomplishments include identification and characterization of the Killer cell Ig-like receptors and HLA-C polymorphisms as their inhibitory ligands, as well as the discovery of the LILR and TREM inhibitory and activating receptor families.
Through analysis of the cellular distribution of these receptors, Prof. Colonna identified plasmacytoid dendritic cells as source of IFNa/b in anti-viral responses and innate lymphoid cells that produce IL-22 in mucosae. His current areas of research include:
1) TREM2 and innate immunoreceptors in Alzheimer's disease.
2) Innate lymphoid cells in mucosal immunity.
3) Plasmacytoid dendritic cells in host defense and autoimmunity.
Prof. Colonna has published over 80 primary last-author studies in peer-reviewed journals, and holds editorial appointments for many publications, including European Journal of Immunology, Immunity, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Blood, Journal of Clinical Investigation, and Human Immunology.
Members of the Inflazome’s Scientific Advisory Board include:
- Prof. Luke O’Neill, Trinity College Dublin
- Prof. Marco Colonna, MD, Washington University School of Medicine
- Prof. Veit Hornung, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
- Dr. David Morris, MD, Novartis Venture Fund
- Prof. Mihai G. Netea, Nijmegen University
- Prof. Paul M. Ridker, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
About Inflazome
Utilizing the scientific expertise of our founders and advisors, Inflazome is leading the way in developing orally available drugs to address clinical unmet needs in inflammatory diseases by targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome, which is now understood to drive many chronic and acute inflammatory conditions from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to cardiovascular, liver, kidney and inflammatory bowel diseases.
Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Inflazome was founded in 2016 by leading academics Prof. Matt Cooper, The University of Queensland (Australia) and Prof. Luke O’Neill Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), following a highly productive joint collaboration.
To advance its programs to clinical development, Inflazome recently closed a successful Series B financing of €40M / US$46M led by Forbion Capital Partners with Longitude Capital, with Series A investors, Fountain Healthcare Partners and Novartis Venture Fund, also participating.
To learn more visit: inflazome.com