Maria-Luisa Alegre

Dr. Maria-Luisa Alegre is a Professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Medicine-Rheumatology. Her research focuses on T cell tolerance mechanisms in transplantation, autoimmunity, and cancer, with a strong emphasis on microbiota interactions. She leads a lab exploring how infections and microbiota influence allograft tolerance, and her work bridges fundamental immunology with clinical translation, including studies on microbiota modulation to improve transplant outcomes.

• Education: BS (1981), MD (1985) from Université Libre de Bruxelles; PhD in Immunology (1993) from the University of Chicago.
• Grants: NIH-funded projects include P01AI097113 (Infections and Transplant Tolerance) and R01AI115716 (Microbiota Impact on Alloimmunity).
• Research Interests: T-cell dysfunction, microbiota-driven immune regulation, and clinical applications in transplantation and immunotherapy.

Key achievements include demonstrating microbiota's role in graft survival, linking obesity to transplant outcomes via bile acids, and developing liver-targeted immunotherapy. Her awards include the American Association of Immunologists' Distinguished Fellow and multiple editorial roles in top journals.