Our
people
Dr Francesco Del Galdo
Title
Senior Translational Research Fellow (Musculoskeletal Biotherapy)
f.delgaldo@leeds.ac.uk
Phone
0113 3438412Address
Section of Musculoskeletal Disease
Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine
Wellcome Trust Brenner Building
St James’s University Hospital
Leeds
LS9 7TF
Research Interests
- Scleroderma
- Vascular rejection
- Autoimmune systemic diseases
- Cell adhesion
About
Dr. Del Galdo’s primary interests are early events in the pathogenesis of Systemic Sclerosis (Scleroderma) and characterization of biomarkers for early diagnosis and assessment of disease activity in fibrotic conditions
Dr. Del Galdo’s studies focus on the events that bridge between the aberrant activation of the immune system and the profibrotic phenotype of tissue fibroblasts in Systemic Sclerosis. His studies have broadened the understanding of the similarities between Systemic Sclerosis pathogenesis and chronic allograft rejection through studying the role of the peculiar expression of Allograft Inflammatory Factor-1 in Scleroderma. His research has recently led to the identification of the downregulation of caveolin-1 as the key molecular switch in the activation of tissue fibroblasts in Scleroderma. These studies have paved the way for a new animal model of SSc and contributed to the identification of caveolin-1 bioavailability as a potential therapeutic target in fibrotic conditions.
Qualifications:
M.D. Second University of Naples, Italy, 1999.
Ph.D. Immunology, Second University of Naples, Italy, 2007.
Post-doctoral fellowship, Rheumatology, 2005-2007.
Grants Awarded
Identification and validation of biomarkers in Scleroderma, EULAR, £764k, awarded April 2010
