Probert, Lesley
Lesley Probert studied Biology and received her PhD in Medicine from the University of London in the UK. She trained as a post-doc at the Universities of London (Imperial College) and Cambridge (Laboratory of Molecular Biology) in the UK and in the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute in Athens, Greece. In 1994 she was appointed to the Faculty of the Hellenic Pasteur Institute and since 2000 has been head of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute.
Her research centres on understanding mechanisms of immune-mediated neuron damage in neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and on developing and testing novel immunomodulatory strategies for the treatment of CNS neurodegenerative diseases. The main experimental approach of her lab is to apply conditional gene targeting systems in mice to in vitro and in vivo models of inflammatory neurodegeneration so that the differential contributions of different TNF ligands and receptors to neuroprotection and neurodegeneration can be defined. Currently, selective inhibitors of the soluble form of TNF and TNF receptor 1 signaling are being evaluated in pre-clinical models as promising immunotherapies for CNS neurodegenerative diseases.
Lesley Probert is currently head of the Department of Immunology at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute. She is a member of the scientific board of the European School of Neuroimmunology since 2002 and served as a member of the International Advisory Board of the International Society of Neuroimmunology (ISNI) 2008-2012. She is a founding member and currently Vice-President of the Hellenic Academy of Neuroimmunology (HELANI). She has 77 original research publications and reviews in international journals and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous international journals and funding bodies.
Her research centres on understanding mechanisms of immune-mediated neuron damage in neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and on developing and testing novel immunomodulatory strategies for the treatment of CNS neurodegenerative diseases. The main experimental approach of her lab is to apply conditional gene targeting systems in mice to in vitro and in vivo models of inflammatory neurodegeneration so that the differential contributions of different TNF ligands and receptors to neuroprotection and neurodegeneration can be defined. Currently, selective inhibitors of the soluble form of TNF and TNF receptor 1 signaling are being evaluated in pre-clinical models as promising immunotherapies for CNS neurodegenerative diseases.
Lesley Probert is currently head of the Department of Immunology at the Hellenic Pasteur Institute. She is a member of the scientific board of the European School of Neuroimmunology since 2002 and served as a member of the International Advisory Board of the International Society of Neuroimmunology (ISNI) 2008-2012. She is a founding member and currently Vice-President of the Hellenic Academy of Neuroimmunology (HELANI). She has 77 original research publications and reviews in international journals and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous international journals and funding bodies.