معرفی
Brita Laht is a Junior Research Fellow in Immunology at the University of Tartu's Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine since September 2024. She completed her MD through an integrated bachelor's and master's program at the University of Tartu's Faculty of Medicine in June 2024 and is currently pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Aili Tagoma, Marina Šunina, and Raivo Uibo.
Her research focuses on immunological aspects of autoimmune diabetes, particularly examining B-cells and follicular T-helper cells in clinical subtypes of autoimmune diabetes, with associations to anti-islet autoantibodies and diabetes gene polymorphisms. Her work bridges clinical medicine and fundamental immunology research.
Brita's publications demonstrate a strong focus on the relationship between viral infections and autoimmune diabetes development, with particular emphasis on antibody responses, cytokine profiles, and potential viral triggers of Type 1 Diabetes. Her research shows consistent patterns connecting immunological markers with diabetes pathogenesis.
Her notable scientific recognition includes:
- Liisa Kolumbus Scholarship (2024)
- Estonian Academy of Sciences scholarship for the 72nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (2023)
- Multiple Elsa D. & Edgar Mathiesen and Dr. Agnes Lukas memorial fund scholarships from the Estonian Students Fund in USA (2019-2023)
Brita is actively involved in the major research project 'Immune mechanisms in adulthood diabetes' (2020-2025), funded by the Estonian Research Council with 1,299,025 EUR, where Raivo Uibo serves as principal investigator. Her work contributes significantly to understanding the immunological basis of diabetes.