Talk from Dr Juan Quintana on ‘Using pre-clinical models to understand the role of adaptive immune cells in brain development and resilience’

Dr. Juan F. Quintana completed undergraduate studies in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the Universidad de Carabobo (Venezuela) in 2007, followed by a PhD in Immunology and Infection Biology by the University of Edinburgh in 2017. In 2021, Juan was awarded a prestigious Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Wellcome postdoctoral fellowship to establish the foundation of his laboratory at the University of Glasgow, exploring the neuroimmunological basis of infection-induced sleep and circadian disruptions, using African sleeping sickness as a model infection system. His studies revealed two novel aspects of this disease: 1) he identified a previously unappreciated interaction between regulatory B cells and microglia in the hypothalamus during chronic neuroinflammation, which led him to discover that B cells are key players in brain homeostasis, and 2) that chronic sleeping sickness results in a brain autoimmune disorder in mice and humans, sharing features of other neurodegenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis. In 2025, Juan was awarded an 8-year Wellcome Trust Career Development Award to explore how B cells support brain development and resilience, with a focus on sleep and neurodevelopmental disorders. His laboratory encompasses neuroscientists and immunologists unpicking the intricate interactions that B cells establish with the brain throughout life, and whether/how these cells may be exploited as novel immunotherapies for neurodevelopmental disorders.