Biosketch
Stefanie K. Wculek studied Molecular Biology at the University of Vienna and completed her Master’s thesis on the mechanisms of skin inflammation in 2011. Then, she investigated the role of neutrophils in cancer at Cancer Research UK/The Francis CRICK Institute and obtained her PhD from the University College London in 2016. In her postdoctoral work at the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) in Madrid, Stefanie specialized on the biology and metabolism of macrophages and dendritic cells in homeostasis and chronic diseases such as cancer and obesity. In February 2023, Stefanie joined the IRB Barcelona “Aging and Metabolism” research program as Junior Group Leader to head the Innate Immune Biology laboratory.
Research profile
- Heras-Murillo I, Mañanes D, Catalá M, …, Wculek SK*#, Sancho D*#. (manuscript accepted) Immunotherapy with conventional type-1 dendritic cells induces immune memory and limits tumor relapse. Nature Communication
- Wculek SK*#, Forisch S. Miguel V, Sancho D*#. 2024. Metabolic homeostasis of tissue macrophages in youth and age. Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism 35(9):793-808.
- Heras-Murillo I, Adán-Barrientos I, Galán M, Wculek SK*#, Sancho D*#. 2024. Dendritic cells as orchestrators of anticancer immunity and immunotherapy. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology 21(4):257-277.
- Wculek SK*, Heras-Murillo I, Mastrangelo A, …, Sancho D*. 2023. Oxidative phosphorylation selectively orchestrates tissue macrophage homeostasis. Immunity 56(3):516-530.e9.
- Wculek SK*, Dunphy G, Heras-Murillo I, Mastrangelo A, Sancho D*. 2022. Metabolism of tissue macrophages in homeostasis and pathology. Cellular and Molecular Immunology 19(3):384-408.
Main research questions:
- How do macrophages, dendritic cells and neutrophils adapt to the different tissues they colonize? Do they tailor their cellular metabolism? Does that influence their functionality?
- What determines the aberrant functions of innate immune cells in aging and non-infectious pathologies such as cancer and obesity? Is their metabolic dysfunction involved? Is there a basis for future therapies?
- How do innate immune cells affect the health of their homing organ, independently of immune responses? What is the nature and relevance of the cross-talk between myeloid cells and their neighboring tissue cells?
- Wculek SK†, Bridgeman VL†, Peakman F, Malanchi I. 2020. Early neutrophil responses to chemical carcinogenesis shape long-term lung cancer susceptibility. iScience 23(7):101277.
- Wculek SK†, Cueto FJ†, Mujal AM, Melero I, Krummel MF, Sancho D. 2020. Dendritic cells in cancer immunology and immunotherapy. Nature Reviews Immunology 20(1):7-24.
- Wculek SK, Amores-Iniesta J, Conde-Garrosa R, Khouili SC, Melero I, Sancho D. 2019. Effective cancer immunotherapy by natural mouse conventional type-1 dendritic cells bearing dead tumor antigen. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer 7(1):100.
- Wculek SK*, Khouili SC, Priego E, Heras-Murillo I, Sancho D*. 2019. Metabolic control of dendritic cell functions: digesting information. Frontiers in Immunology 10:775.
- Wculek SK, Malanchi I. 2015. Neutrophils support lung colonization of metastasis-initiating breast cancer cells. Nature 528(7582):413-7.
(*) Co-Corresponding authors; (#) Co-senior authors; (†) Co-first authors
Positions and training
2023 – Present: Junior Group Leader Innate Immune Biology lab, IRB Barcelona, Spain
2016 – 2023: Postdoctoral Researcher in the David Sancho lab at the CNIC, Madrid, Spain
2011 – 2016: PhD student in the Ilaria Malanchi lab at the Francis Crick Institute (formally Cancer Research UK), London, UK
Contributions
- Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee of the IRB Barcelona
- Guest lecturer at the University of Barcelona (Advanced Immunology Master, focus Immunometabolism)