Facundo Batista

Facundo Batista

Professor of Biology; Associate Director and Scientific Director, Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard

Facundo Batista studies fundamental lymphocyte biology to drive the development of the next generation of vaccines and therapeutics.

600 Main Street, Rm 378

Office

fdb@mit.edu

Email

Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard

Location

Lab Website
batistaadmin@mgh.harvard.edu

Assistant

857-268-7284

Assistant Phone

Education

  • Graduate: PhD, 1995, International School of Advanced Studies
  • Undergraduate: BSc, 1991, University of Buenos Aires

Research Summary

B lymphocytes are the fulcrum of our immunological memory, the source of antibodies, and the focus of vaccine development. My lab has investigated how, where, and when B cell responses take shape. In recent years, my group has expanded into preclinical vaccinology, developing cutting-edge humanized mouse models for diseases including malaria, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2.

Awards

  •      Fellow, Ministero degli Affari Esteri of Italy, 1991-1992
  •      Fellow, UNIDO-International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 1993-1995
  •      Fellow, Cancer Research Institute, 1995
  •      Long Term Postdoctoral Fellowship, European Molecular Biology Organization, 1996-1997
  •      Project Grant, Arthritis Research Campaign, 1999
  •      Young Investigator Award, European Molecular Biology Organization, 2004
  •      The Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, The Royal Society/The Wolfson Foundation, 2009
  •      Faculty of 1000, 2009
  •      EMBO Member, European Molecular Biology Organization, 2009
  •      Fellow, British Academy of Medical Sciences, 2013
  •      Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology, 2017
  •      Member, Academia de Ciencias de América Latina (ACAL), 2022

Key Publications

  1. Antibodies from primary humoral responses modulate the recruitment of naive B cells during secondary responses. Tas, JMJ, Koo, JH, Lin, YC, Xie, Z, Steichen, JM, Jackson, AM, Hauser, BM, Wang, X, Cottrell, CA, Torres, JL et al.. 2022. Immunity 55, 1856-1871.e6.
    doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2022.07.020PMID:35987201
  2. Vaccination in a humanized mouse model elicits highly protective PfCSP-targeting anti-malarial antibodies. Kratochvil, S, Shen, CH, Lin, YC, Xu, K, Nair, U, Da Silva Pereira, L, Tripathi, P, Arnold, J, Chuang, GY, Melzi, E et al.. 2021. Immunity 54, 2859-2876.e7.
    doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.10.017PMID:34788599
  3. Multiplexed CRISPR/CAS9-mediated engineering of pre-clinical mouse models bearing native human B cell receptors. Wang, X, Ray, R, Kratochvil, S, Melzi, E, Lin, YC, Giguere, S, Xu, L, Warner, J, Cheon, D, Liguori, A et al.. 2021. EMBO J 40, e105926.
    doi: 10.15252/embj.2020105926PMID:33258500
  4. Initiation of Antiviral B Cell Immunity Relies on Innate Signals from Spatially Positioned NKT Cells. Gaya, M, Barral, P, Burbage, M, Aggarwal, S, Montaner, B, Warren Navia, A, Aid, M, Tsui, C, Maldonado, P, Nair, U et al.. 2018. Cell 172, 517-533.e20.
    doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.11.036PMID:29249358
  5. A switch from canonical to noncanonical autophagy shapes B cell responses. Martinez-Martin, N, Maldonado, P, Gasparrini, F, Frederico, B, Aggarwal, S, Gaya, M, Tsui, C, Burbage, M, Keppler, SJ, Montaner, B et al.. 2017. Science 355, 641-647.
    doi: 10.1126/science.aal3908PMID:28183981

Recent Publications

  1. Affinity gaps among B cells in germinal centers drive the selection of MPER precursors. Ray, R, Schiffner, T, Wang, X, Yan, Y, Rantalainen, K, Lee, CD, Parikh, S, Reyes, RA, Dale, GA, Lin, YC et al.. 2024. Nat Immunol 25, 1083-1096.
    doi: 10.1038/s41590-024-01844-7PMID:38816616
  2. mRNA-LNP prime boost evolves precursors toward VRC01-like broadly neutralizing antibodies in preclinical humanized mouse models. Wang, X, Cottrell, CA, Hu, X, Ray, R, Bottermann, M, Villavicencio, PM, Yan, Y, Xie, Z, Warner, JE, Ellis-Pugh, JR et al.. 2024. Sci Immunol 9, eadn0622.
    doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adn0622PMID:38753808
  3. mRNA-LNP HIV-1 trimer boosters elicit precursors to broad neutralizing antibodies. Xie, Z, Lin, YC, Steichen, JM, Ozorowski, G, Kratochvil, S, Ray, R, Torres, JL, Liguori, A, Kalyuzhniy, O, Wang, X et al.. 2024. Science 384, eadk0582.
    doi: 10.1126/science.adk0582PMID:38753770
  4. Antibody production relies on the tRNA inosine wobble modification to meet biased codon demand. Giguère, S, Wang, X, Huber, S, Xu, L, Warner, J, Weldon, SR, Hu, J, Phan, QA, Tumang, K, Prum, T et al.. 2024. Science 383, 205-211.
    doi: 10.1126/science.adi1763PMID:38207021
  5. Membrane-bound mRNA immunogens lower the threshold to activate HIV Env V2 apex-directed broadly neutralizing B cell precursors in humanized mice. Melzi, E, Willis, JR, Ma, KM, Lin, YC, Kratochvil, S, Berndsen, ZT, Landais, EA, Kalyuzhniy, O, Nair, U, Warner, J et al.. 2022. Immunity 55, 2168-2186.e6.
    doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2022.09.003PMID:36179690
  6. Antibodies from primary humoral responses modulate the recruitment of naive B cells during secondary responses. Tas, JMJ, Koo, JH, Lin, YC, Xie, Z, Steichen, JM, Jackson, AM, Hauser, BM, Wang, X, Cottrell, CA, Torres, JL et al.. 2022. Immunity 55, 1856-1871.e6.
    doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2022.07.020PMID:35987201
  7. Vaccination in a humanized mouse model elicits highly protective PfCSP-targeting anti-malarial antibodies. Kratochvil, S, Shen, CH, Lin, YC, Xu, K, Nair, U, Da Silva Pereira, L, Tripathi, P, Arnold, J, Chuang, GY, Melzi, E et al.. 2021. Immunity 54, 2859-2876.e7.
    doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.10.017PMID:34788599
  8. The fifth decade. Pulverer, B, Batista, FD. 2021. EMBO J 40, e108009.
    doi: 10.15252/embj.2021108009PMID:33844313
  9. In conversation with the Chief Editor. Batista, FD. 2021. EMBO J 40, e108116.
    doi: 10.15252/embj.2021108116PMID:33844305
  10. Multiplexed CRISPR/CAS9-mediated engineering of pre-clinical mouse models bearing native human B cell receptors. Wang, X, Ray, R, Kratochvil, S, Melzi, E, Lin, YC, Giguere, S, Xu, L, Warner, J, Cheon, D, Liguori, A et al.. 2021. EMBO J 40, e105926.
    doi: 10.15252/embj.2020105926PMID:33258500
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