Julio completed his BSc. Biomedical Sciences with a year Industrial Experience working with RedX Oncology from the University of Manchester in 2015, graduating with First Class honours. He then moved to LSTM, completing his Ph.D. in ImmunoParasitology/ Tropical Disease Biology in 2019, where he investigated the cellular, molecular and immune mechanisms of filarial associated lymphatic pathology.
"My research interests lie in the reciprocal interactions at the interface between host immune cell populations and helminth parasitic infections. Investigating how recruited immune cells effect, and are affected by, the local microenvironmental niches encompassing parasitic infection can yield both novel therapeutic targets and strategies both against helminths, but also wider infectious agents. One area of active research is manipulating host immune cell responses and populations with immunomodulatory agents as a strategy to alleviate filarial lymphatic pathology/ elephantiasis.
My second project involves the investigation and development of novel non-invasive sensor technologies to detect microfilaraemia in infected filarial patients, as a replacement for current invasive blood sampling techniques. Such technologies could become very useful in the context of mass drug administration programmes to confirm in real-time the efficacy of antifilarial drug programmes."