Maria Isabel Torres Lopez

Biography:

Maria Isabel Torres Lopez is a Professor of Cell Biology at Jaen University School of Sciences (Spain). She received her PhD with a special award in 1994 from the University of Granada, Spain. She joined the Jaen University School of Sciences faculty as an assistant professor of cell biology from 1995 to 1999 and was appointed Professor of Cell Biology in 1999. Her lab research focuses on the field of inflammation and tolerance in two areas: (1) evaluating the immunotoxic ability of peptidic fragments derived from gluten in vitro, and (2) investigating the role of tolerance molecules in inflammatory bowel disease and celiac disease. In recent years, she has been conducting research on HLA-G and monitoring immunosuppression in heart transplantation. The relevance of tolerogenic molecules (HLA-G, IDO) in human physiological and pathological contexts has been the center of her intense investigation. She has published over 60 scientific papers, invited reviews, and book chapters. Currently, she serves on the Editorial Board of the World Journal of Gastroenterology, Trends in Applied Sciences Research, and the Journal of Tryptophan Research, and she is a member of national and international research public committees that evaluate research projects. She has presented invited talks at international and national meetings such as the International Conference of HLA-G, Congress of Immunology, and Congress of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, among others. She has also been a visiting professor in the Developmental Gastroenterology Laboratory at Massachusetts, the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the Medical University of South Carolina, and the Service de Recherches en Hemato-Immunologie at Hospital Saint-Louis, Paris.