Jose Faro

Jose Faro

Received his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) in 1986. Currently, he is a researcher at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia (Oeiras, Portugal), where leads the Systems Immunology Group.

Jose Faro has an interdisciplinary background, being experienced in laboratory work and in mathematics. He was originally trained in biology and mathematics at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC, Spain). He was a Ph.D. student at the Department of Microbiology of the USC, where he was trained in immunology, participating in several projects in immunology of infection (Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B) and in autoimmunity (NZWxNZB and LPR mice). He developed in his thesis a theoretical model of the regulation of the immune response based on the interaction of the idiotypic network with T lymphocytes.
After getting his Ph.D. degree in Biology (1986) he went to the Department of Immunology, Stockholm University (Sweden), to do postdoctoral research with Göran Möller (1986-87). There he used a technique for "decorating" B lymphocytes with monoclonal antibodies to study B cell activation. Later he moved to Paris to work with Antonio Coutinho at the Pasteur Institut (1987-89), where he performed studies on the cells expressing the Mls a antigen and on the characterization of thymic B lymphocytes. There he was also involved in the development of techniques to study serum antibody connectivity. While in Paris, he worked also with the late theoretical biologist prof. F. Varela at the University of Jussieu-Paris VI, who introduced him into the field of theoretical immunology. There he started to work in a mathematical description of the idiotypic network.
In 1990 he moved to the University of Salamanca, where he started a long-enduring collaborative work with prof. Santiago Velasco, head of the Applied Physics Unit, on issues that ranged from theoretical studies in immunology (models of idiotypic network, B cell activation, thymocyte selection), to studies of predator-prey systems with time delay, and to development of new experimental methods for pedagogical demonstrations in the thermodynamics lab. From 1993 to 2000 he was teaching assistant and instructor of the thermodynamics lab at the Faculty of Physics (University of Salamanca), and in 2000-2001 he was teacher and lab instructor of the immunology lab at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the
University of Salamanca.

He is currently engaged in several research programs, notably the modeling of T and B cell activation, and the development of a combined mathematical/experimental approach to unravel the physiology of lymphoid follicles (from primary follicles to germinal center reaction) and the role of hypermutations.

Research Interests

Theoretical and mathematical biology with special focus on dynamical and organizational issues of the physiology of the immune system, and their relation to the problems on the extent developmental and adult animal physiology can be articulated with current evolution theory.

Bridging theorists and experimentalists in specific areas of Biology. In particular, in respect to the relationship between healthy immune activity and autoimmune disease.

The organisation of the living and its immediate environmuent and their mutual, but assymetric, dependency. The possibility to develop a mathematical language (perhaps based on cathegory theory?) that allows to capture that organization, and describe the unique properties of biological entities, complementary to the current mathematical language of physics.

Main Research Project:

Mechanisms involved in the germinal center reaction: a biomathematical and experimental approach.

Affinity maturation of the humoral immune response and memory B lymphocyte generation relies on dynamically structured, short-lived organules so-called germinal centres (GC). Yet, their dynamics is an open problem in immunology. GCs are derived from primary follicles after Ag-activated B cells expand in a T cell-dependent fashion at their basal end. GC B cells undergo extensive proliferation, somatic mutation, massive cell death and Ag-driven selection, and differentiation into memory B cells. The present study aims to clarify their rise-and-fall dynamics by assessing four potential driving mechanisms. A mathematical modelling strategy is being developed in order to derive experimentally testable predictions that can discriminate between the different postulated mechanisms.

Selected Publications

León, K., J. Faro, A. Lage & J. Carneiro. (2002). Inverse Correlation between the Incidences of Autoimmune Disease and Infection. (submitted).

Faro, J., S. Velasco, A. González-Fernández & A. Bandeira. (2002). The Impact of Thymic Antigen Diversity on the Size of the Selected T-cell Repertoire. (submitted).

Velasco, S., Faro, J. & Román, F.L. (2001). A simple experiment for measuring the surface tension of soap solutions. Am. J. Phys. 69: 920-921.

Velasco, S., Faro, J. & Román, F.L. (2000). An experiment for measuring the low temperature vapor line of water. Am. J. Phys. 68: 1154-57.

Velasco, S. & Faro, J. (eds.) Manual de técnicas experimentales en termodinámica. Col. Libros Prácticos, 1. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca. 1998. (L)

Faro, J. & Velasco, S. (1997). An approximation for prey—predator models with time delay. Physica D. 110: 313-322.

Faro, J., J.Carneiro, & S.Velasco. Further studies on the immune network modelling. (1997). J. Theor. Biol. 184, 405-421.

Carneiro, J., J.Faro, A.Coutinho, & J.Stewart. (1996). A model of the immune network with B-T cell co-operation. I-Prototypical Structures and Dynamics. J. Theor. Biol. 182, 513-529.

Faro, J. & J.Carneiro. (1995). The two signal model and autoreactivity: are they really incompatible? Scand.J.Immunol. 41, 519-522.

Faro, J & Velasco, S. (1993). Crosslinking of membrane-immunoglobulins and B cell activation: a simple model based on percolation theory. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B, 254:139-145.

Faro, J & Velasco, S. (1993). Studies on a certain class of network models of the immune system. J. Theor. Biol., 164:271-290.

Andreu-Sánchez, JL, Faro, J, Alonso, JM, Paige, CJ, Martínez-A, C & Marcos, MAR. (1990). Ontogenic characterization of thymic B lymphocytes. Analysis in different mouse strains. Eur. J. Immunol., 20:1767-1773.

Marcos, MAR, Andreu, JL, Alonso, JM, Faro, J, Toribio, ML & Martínez-A, C. (1989). Physiological significance of Thymic B lymphocytes. An appraisal. Res. Immunol., 140:275-279.

Faro, J, Clinchy, B, Höidén, I & Möller, G. (1989). Capping and co-capping of membrane immunoglobulin and lipid-conjugated immunoglobulin inserted in the cell membrane of B lymphocytes. Scand. J. Immunol., 30:435-440.

Coutinho, A, Grandien, A, Faro-Rivas, J & Mota-Santos, TA. (1988). Idiotypes, Tailors and Networks. Ann. Immunol. (Inst. Pasteur) 139:599-607.

Faro, J, Seoane, R, Eiras, A, Lareo, I, Schiller, M & Regueiro BJ. (1987). Immunoresponses to Neisseria meningitidis epitopes: in vivo analysis of immunocompetent cells involved in suppression of secondary response to phosphorylcholine. Med. Microbiol. Immunol., 176:289-303.

Seoane, R, Faro, J, Eiras, A, Lareo, I, Schiller, M & Regueiro BJ. (1986). Anti-phosphorylcholine response of autoimmune BWF1 mice: microenvironment of aged mice has a transient effect on responsiveness of immunocompetent cells. IRCS Med. Sci., 14:906-907.

Seoane, R, Faro, J, Eiras, A, Lareo, I, Couceiro, J & Regueiro BJ. (1986). Effects of antigen and internal environment on anti-phosphorylcholine immune responses of autoimmune aged NZB/W F1 mice. Immunology, 58:329-334.

Faro, J. (1986). Modulación meningocócica de la respuesta inmunitaria a epitopos de Neisseria meningitidis. Ph.D. work. Ed. Universidad de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela (Spain). (B)

Faro, J, Seoane, R, Eiras, A, Lareo, I, Couceiro, J & Regueiro BJ. (1986). Immunoresponses to Neisseria meningitidis epitopes: suppression of secondary response to phosphorylcholine is carrier specific. Infect. Immun., 51:224-232.

Faro, J, Seoane, R, Puentes, E, Ubeira, FM & Regueiro BJ. (1985). Immunoresponses to Neisseria meningitidis epitopes: primary versus secondary antiphosphorylcholine responses. Infect. Immun., 48:428-432.

Ubeira, FM, Seoane, R, Puentes, E, Faro, J & Regueiro BJ. (1983). Effect of clofibrate on the growth-kinetics of the murine P1798(SC) lymphoma. Brit. J. Cancer, 48:417-421.

Ubeira, FM, Seoane, R, Faro, J & Regueiro BJ. (1983). Enzymatic profiles of tumours. Difference between drug-treated and untreated murine lymphoid tumours. TumorDiagnostik&Therapie, 4:216-221.

Ubeira, FM, Faro, J, Seoane, R & Regueiro BJ. (1982). El Sistema Inmunitario (revisión). Monografía Nº 66, ed. Univ. de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela (Spain). (B)

Address

Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência
Apartado 14
P-2781 Oeiras Codex
PORTUGAL
Phone:     00 351 214 464 614
Fax:         00 351 214 417 973
Email:      jfaro@igc.gulbenkian.pt
URL:      http://eao.igc.gulbenkian.pt/ti/index.html