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Professor Federica Marelli-Berg

Federica

BHF Professor of Cardiovascular Immunology, Centre Lead of Biochemical Pharmacology

Centre: Biochemical Pharmacology

Email: f.marelli-berg@qmul.ac.uk
Telephone: +44(0) 20 7882 3443

Profile

Prof. Federica Marelli-Berg qualified in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Milan in 1989, and specialized in Hematology in 1993 at the University of Pavia, Italy. In 1997 she completed her PhD studies at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School (London) under the supervision of Professor R. Lechler. In 2000 she was awarded a Governors’ lectureship by Imperial College London, where she continued her academic career to become Professor of Immunology in 2011. She joined the WHRI  (Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry - FMD, QMUL) as Professor of Cardiovascular Immunology in November 2011. Since 2014 she is leading the Centre of Biochemical Pharmacology. In 2016 she was awarded the prestigious British Heart Foundation Chair of Cardiovascular Immunology.

 

Research

Group members

  • Dr Hongmei Fu (Principal Research Officer)
  • Ms Guosu Wang
  • Dr Juho Vuononvirta
  • Dr Thanusian Poobalasingan
  • Dr Carlene Dyer
  • Ms Anitha Nair
  • Ms Silvia Fanti
  • Dr Alexandros Protonotarios
Cardiovascular Immunology

Effective immunity relies upon the prompt localization of activated T lymphocytes to the site of pathogen invasion. While other leukocytes migrate in response to non-specific inflammatory stimuli, activated T lymphocytes must discriminate and migrate to tissues where their cognate antigen is located. To maintain immune homeostasis, the anti-inflammatory regulatory subset of T cells also localizes to the site of inflammation to prevent excessive tissue damage. 

The regulation of memory and regulatory T lymphocyte trafficking is the main focus of my research. Our major contributions have been in the field of antigen-dependent recruitment, which allows selective recruitment of primed T cells to localize antigenic sites, and have unveiled key molecular mechanisms of this effect, which can be targeted pharmacologically. We have recently discovered a novel pathway which promotes selective T cell migration to the heart. In addition, we have pioneered the field of metabolic regulation of T cell motility and migration and have discovered molecules – implicated in T cell metabolism - that can be pharmacologically targeted to therapeutically modulate T lymphocyte trafficking.

The long-term plan of our research is to provide translational bridges between T cell homing mechanisms and the therapy of immune-mediated diseases, including heart transplant rejection and myocarditis.

We are currently developing these studies with an aim to provide a solid basis for imminent clinical use.

Publications

  • Keane JM, Longhi MP, Marelli-Berg FM (2025). Resolution of spatiotemporal building blocks in the diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis deconvolutes immunopathogenic mechanisms. nameOfConference


  • Longhi MP, Marelli-Berg FM (2025). The paradox of MTHFD2 activity in cardiac inflammation. nameOfConference


  • Fanti S, Dyer C, Ingimarsdóttir IJ et al. (2025). Combined Adaptive Immune Mechanisms Mediate Cardiac Injury After COVID-19 Vaccination. nameOfConference


  • Mohiddin SA, Marelli-Berg FM (2025). NK-Like CD8+ T Cells: Professional Assassins in Fulminant Myocarditis. nameOfConference


  • Schulz-Menger J, Collini V, Gröschel J et al. (2025). 2025 ESC Guidelines for the management of myocarditis and pericarditis. nameOfConference


  • Sandhar B, Vyas V, Harding D et al. (2025). Heterogeneity of thymic output in the elderly and its association with sex and smoking. nameOfConference


  • Kumar R, Li W, Loy J et al. (2025). TOP-441 CD8+ T cells are pro-inflammatory, cytotoxic, and clonally expanded in the early stages of fibrosis due to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). nameOfConference


  • Fu H, Vuononvirta J, Fanti S et al. (2025). Publisher Correction: The glucose transporter 2 regulates CD8+ T cell function via environment sensing. nameOfConference


  • Sikking MA, Harding D, Henkens MTHM et al. (2024). Cytotoxic T Cells Drive Outcome in Inflammatory Dilated Cardiomyopathy. nameOfConference


  • Vyas V, Sandhar B, Keane JM et al. (2024). Tissue-resident memory T cells in epicardial adipose tissue comprise transcriptionally distinct subsets that are modulated in atrial fibrillation. nameOfConference


View profile publication page

Sponsors

 

Collaborators

Internal

External

  • Dr Klaus Okkenhaug (Babraham Institute)
  • Prof Giovanna Lombardi (KCL)
  • Prof Anne Ridley (KCL)
  • Prof Robert Lechler (KCL)
  • Prof Julian Dyson (ICL)

Disclosures

  • Associate Editor British Journal of Cardiology (2023- )
  • Consultant AstraZeneca (2023)
  • Consultant Serepta (2022)
  • Associate Editor ATVB (2022- )
  • Associate Editor Immunometabolism (2020- )
  • Consulting Editor Cardiovascular Res. (2017-)
  • Associate Editor Cell Stress (2017-)
  • Associate Editor Curr Opin Pharmacology (2012-)
  • Associate Editor Frontiers in Immunology (2012-)
  • Associate Editor Am. J. Immunology (2012-)
  • Associate Editor Frontiers in Pharmacology (2012-)
  • Associate Editor Immunology (2010-)
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