Dr. R.A. (Rajagopal) Murugan, PhD

I am B cell immunologist, studying antibody response against infectious diseases in humans such as malaria, schistosomiasis and COVID-19. Currently I am leading a team that works on characterizing the B cell response at the level of single cell based on transcriptome, antibody repertoire and generating monoclonal antibodies.
With the interest in studying host-pathogen interactions, I performed doctoral and postdoctoral work in the lab of Prof. Hedda Wardemann at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg. This work unveiled the role of germline antibody binding to complex malaria antigen and how this could be used to design next generation immunogens to induce protective immune response. Impact of the findings was recognized by the German Society of Immunology (DGfI) by awarding Werner Muller award in 2019.

Core focus of the team is in understanding the fundamental properties defining human immune response, in particular B cell response, to complex pathogens. Our work is based on identifying antigen specific B cells elicited in response to infection or vaccination and characterizing the transcriptional landscape along with the antibody binding specificity, affinity and functional capacity at the level of single cells and monoclonal antibodies.
By gaining deep insights from the response, we aim to design and develop novel immunogens that elicit strong and lasting protection. Independently, studying B cell response aids in identify protective antibodies that could be used for therapeutic interventions.
Our work is supported by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral fellowship by European Commission, Leiden University Fund/Gratama-Stichting/LU and the Dutch Research Council (NWO).