Director Biography
Dr. ALEXIS M. KALERGIS
Director of the Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy
Dr. ALEXIS M. KALERGIS is a Biochemist from thePontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York-USA. After his PhD, he performed two post-doctorates, one at the Albert Einstein and another at The Rockefeller University, New York, USA.
He is currently Full Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the same university.
Dr. Kalergis has been awarded and directed research programs and projects from Fondecyt, Fondef, International Foundation For Science, Technology Consortia, Millennium Scientific Initiative and has also participated as an independent researcher in interdisciplinary projects of the European Community and Fondap.
He is also director of the Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, which is supported by the Millennium Science Initiative. His research focuses on the molecular level in the immune response against infectious agents and tumors, as well as re-establishing immune balance in autoimmune disorders.
He has published numerous articles in high impact journals and has contributed to the scientific training of dozens of undergraduate and postgraduate researchers in the field of immunology. His laboratory has recently succeeded in generating a vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus, which is currently being prepared for being applied into humans. If this vaccine works, it could solve one of the major public health problems currently affecting the country.