Interview with Anaïs Schneller: Her Role in Shaping Personalised Transplant Medicine
As part of the WP4 activities under the HORUS project, we sat down with Anaïs Schneller from ImmunoConcEpT in Bordeaux, France, during the recent research team meeting in Barcelona. Anaïs plays a critical role in validating immune signatures using advanced techniques like ELIspot and flow cytometry. In this interview, she shares her perspective on the collaborative work taking place, the scientific goals of the project, and the broader impact this research could have on improving care for kidney transplant patients at risk of CMV infection.
Q: What is your role in WP4?
Anais: My role within WP4 is to test and validate the signature that will have been highlighted in WP2/WP3 using ELIspot and flow cytometry techniques.
Q: Which lab or institution are you affiliated with, and what expertise does your team contribute to the project?
Anais: ImmunoConcEpT, Bordeaux, FRANCE. We are involved in the project management and also the expertise in Flow cytometry
Q: What were you hoping to gain from your time in Barcelona?
Anais: Meeting and working with project partners while working on the development of a standardised ELIspot protocol.
Q: How will the techniques you’re developing support your work on HORUS and in general?
Anais: Help to find a way to better understand CMV infection in Kidney transplant recipients, add a new technique to the one I already know and also take a look at the functional response of conventional immune cells in order to confirm results obtained using other techniques.
Q: Why is this project personally important to you, and what impact do you hope it will have for patients?
Anais: The HORUS project matters because it allows us to contribute to defining a personalised medicine in transplantation by identifying patients truly at risk for CMV infection. I hope this work will lead to more personalised treatments, reducing antiviral toxicity while enhancing protection through a better understanding of virus-specific immune responses and also to better understand cell dysfunction in CMV-positive patients.
Anaïs’ insights highlight the vital contribution of laboratory research to the wider objectives of the HORUS project. Her work, grounded in technical precision and collaborative spirit, brings us closer to developing personalised approaches for managing CMV infection in transplant recipients. As WP4 progresses, the dedication of researchers like Anaïs ensures that the project continues to move towards meaningful clinical outcomes that could significantly enhance patient care across Europe.
