Nicola L. HARRIS, Ph.D.

Group Leader

Nicola L. Harris is the holder of a Master of Physiology, which she obtained from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 1994. After joining the laboratory of Dr. Franca Ronchese at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research of the Otago University, she received a PhD entitled ‘The role of co-stimulation in the regulation of T cell responses’ in 1998. From 1998 to 2002, Nicola Harris completed her post-doctoral work investigating T cells and allergic asthma at the same institute, in the lab of Professor Graham Le Gros. In 2002, she moved from New Zealand to Zurich where she joined the laboratory of Professor Rolf Zinkernagel and Professor Hans Hengartner at the Institute of Experimental Immunology of the University Hospital and the ETH. There she established a research program investigating the impact of helminths and commensal bacteria on the intestinal immune system. Promoted to assistant professor in 2005 within the Department of Environment Sciences at the ETH in Zurich, Professor Harris has been leading a research group in the field of intestinal immunology.

Highlights of her research project

The scientific interests of Nicola L. Harris focus on the effect of environmental commensal bacteria and common intestinal pathogens on intestinal function and homeostasis, immune development and host genetics. Her research projects aim at identifying the influence of both commensal bacteria and intestinal helminthes on the intestinal and systemic immune system and their potential implications for both protective immunity and prevention or treatment of chronic inflammatory disorders. In this regard, Professor Harris intends to investigate the impact of common intestinal micro-organisms on immune responses following influenza vaccination and allergic airway inflammation.