Vasso is a renowned immunologist, with a focus on medicinal chemistry, cellular biology, and clinical research. She has developed drugs and vaccines through her translational research expertise.
Vasso has held various research positions at prestigious institutions worldwide and has been recognised with over 100 awards and honours. She has published over 500 research papers and is an inventor on 20 patents and over 90 sub-patents. Vasso’s work has been instrumental in developing vaccines against cancer and applying immunotherapies to multiple sclerosis, type-1 diabetes, drug addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, and other diseases.
Her research also focuses on understanding mechanisms and developing interventions for mental health issues, chronic diseases, infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and ageing. Immunology is essential in maintaining a healthy immune system and Vasso applies her expertise in immunology to tackle various diseases.
The Immune System
The immune system is part of our ‘blood system’ those being the white blood cells within blood. These are the cells which are the first line of defence, and constantly come in contact with anything that enters our body; bacteria, viruses, dust, basically anything foreign. They get rid of these foreign substances without even realising.
However, some invaders remain and cause damaging effects, such as bacteria and viruses which result in various infections. The body usually eliminates these invaders within days to a few weeks.
The immune system is responsible for keeping the body in a happy and healthy state. However, if the immune system gets over activated, cytokine storm can occur, inflammation occurs, autoimmune diseases can occur etc. Maintaining a healthy immune system is important to keep well and age healthy.
Diet, regular physical activity, sleep, social activities, sunlight, and relaxation all contribute to keeping an immune system healthy.
Over the next few months, I will be describing various diseases and the role the immune system plays in each of these diseases, and relaxation all contribute to keeping an immune system healthy.