Ph.D. Immunology, Aix-Marseille II University – INSERM U119 (France)

Dr. Abi-Rached’s long-term interest is in understanding the principles underlying the evolution of vertebrate immune systems. For his doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Pierre Pontarotti, he investigated how ancient large-scale genomic events contributed to the emergence of adaptive immunity in jawed vertebrates, and of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I/II molecules in particular. Since joining the Parham laboratory, he has focused on a more recent aspect of the MHC class I molecule evolution: their plastic and rapidly-evolving interactions with the diverse receptors of Natural Killer cells in primates.