{"id":24455,"date":"2022-07-12T11:10:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T09:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/?page_id=24455"},"modified":"2022-07-29T09:14:46","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T07:14:46","slug":"dr-helenie-kefalakes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.resist-cluster.de\/en\/about-us\/research-team-2\/dr-helenie-kefalakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Helenie Kefalakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dr. Helenie Kefalakes participates in research project B14.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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<\/i><\/td>\nMy Research Interest in RESIST<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/h1><\/div>

Our research focus within RESIST is to identify why CD4+ T cells fail to control infection with the hepatitis D virus (HDV) and to identify how CD4+ T-cell responses can be modified to achieve viral elimination. The long-term aim is to thereby assess if CD4+ T cells can be utilized as a treatment target to achieve HDV clearance.<\/p>\n

In pursuing this research aim we build on our long-term experience in studying CD8+ T-cell responses. As far as CD8+ T cells are concerned, we have worked over the past 10 years trying to understand why they fail to eliminate viral hepatitis and how they contribute to virus persistence in the liver. Here we could show, that the phenotype and function of these responses is dependent on viral evolution, underlining the importance of looking at immune responses in context of the pathogen. CD4+ T-cell responses, however, have not been studied systematically in the context of HDV infection.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the next 4 years we want to identify CD4+ T-cell epitopes represented in our patient cohort and use these as a tool to understand CD4+ T-cell failure in chronic HDV infection.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Dr. Kefalakes in the laboratory<\/h1><\/div>
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Dr. Helenie Kefalakes – Curriculum Vitae<\/h1><\/div>
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Current Position<\/h3><\/div>