ABOUT ME
Dr. Michelangelo Certo qualified for a MSc in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology cum laude in 2010 and a PhD in Cellular Biochemistry and Pharmacology in 2013 from the University of Calabria (Italy). Post-doc at the Centre of Preclinical and Translational Pharmacology, University of Calabria (2013-2015), he worked on the characterization of the interactions between the immune system and the brain subjected to ischemic injury for the identification of novel immunotherapeutics for stroke. In 2015 he was appointed as an expert in the field of Pharmacology (BIO/14) by the Department Council at the School of Pharmacy of the University of Calabria. In 2016 Michelangelo was awarded a Research Fellowship from the Italian Society of Pharmacology and he joined the University College London to apply his research to the field of chronic pain. His research has always been devoted to the study of inflammatory mechanisms controlling immunity and inflammation with a focus on therapeutic innovation in the context of cell trafficking, target identification and therapeutic exploitation, reparative and regenerative therapeutics. In 2017 he moved to Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary, University of London, where he focused on the investigation of the metabolic control of immune cell effector functions and the implications of the metabolic dependence of immune responses in inflammatory conditions. In 2018 he joined the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham as Senior Research Fellow in Metabolism and Inflammation to investigate the interconnections between metabolic and inflammatory pathways and how specific metabolites, including lactate and fatty acids, can surprisingly act as signalling molecules modulating many aspects the immune-inflammatory response. His current research activities address the study of cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as atherosclerosis (BHF funded) and Sjogren's syndrome (MRC funded).
Current research project
My research focuses on the interconnections between metabolic and inflammatory pathways and how systemic and cellular metabolic alterations in diseases with an inflammatory component lead to aberrant immune cell responses, which favour both the establishment and the propagation of inflammation. In particular, I investigate the mechanisms of metabolic control of T cell-mediated immune responses, including migration, differentiation and cytokine production in physiology and under metabolic stress.
One key area of my research is how small metabolites, like lactate, which accumulates locally in the inflamed tissue or systemically during acute and chronic inflammation, can impact the fate of the immune-inflammatory response via induction of intracellular metabolic rewiring with immediate effect on broad range human diseases.
Another important aspect of the research is how fatty acids can impact the outcomes of an immune response, with repercussions on obesity-related diseases.
