Maria Luisa Varela

University of Michigan Medical School
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Marilú is a Biologist and holds a PhD in Biological Chemistry from University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her thesis was conducted in the Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology and Signal Translation at Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (IByME) under Dr. Carolina Mondillo, where she studied the biology of Leydig cell tumors, and the interaction of the histaminergic system and vitamin D, allowing to propose Histamine receptor 4 agonist in combination with calcitriol as therapeutic target. Her follow-up research, holding a Postdoctoral fellow position, focused on studying the negative impact of antihistaminic (targeting histamine receptors H1 and H2) in normal physiology.
 
In October of 2020, Marilú joined the Castro-Lowenstein Laboratory to study the role of LAIR-1 in mouse models of Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). This collagen receptor has showed to be present in gliomas cells as well as in infiltrating cells. Employing conditional transgenics for LAIR-1, Marilú will attempt to describe the mechanism in which this receptor is involved in tumor developing as well as its role in tumor cells and in infiltrating cells. Ultimately, her works aims to generate a gene therapy approach and/or an antibody-based therapy targeting LAIR-1, that could lead to innovating treatments for GBM.