Yves Barral is an individual worth getting to know. He was born in Mexico but raised in France, he is passionate about his line of work, with an enthusiasm that really shines through his coyness. When you get past his initial shyness, you will certainly learn a lot from him, namely about the mechanisms and functions of asymmetric cell division.

William Agace first moved to Sweden to pursue his scientific interests. Once there, he found a love interest and decided to stay. Many years and awards later, he is now the head of the Immunology Section at Lund University and he’s ready to share what he’s learned in the process. 

Dan Peer immediately comes across as confident and energetic. And for good reason, considering he’s one of the foremost experts in his field and a pioneer who used RNA interference for in vivo validation of new drug targets within the immune system. He also excels at combining multiple scientific fields and making them work together to find solutions.

Jonathan West truly is multidisciplinary scientist. He started out as a medical microbiologist but quickly found appeal in a technological approach to science, which drove him to the field of nanotechnology. His industrial experience prompted him to pursue translational research and his current work is based on chip technologies and microfluidic single cell analytics.

Andreas Wack is a seasoned researcher. He left his native Germany for London during his PhD but, before settling indefinitely, he tried the pharmaceutical industry for size, after which he went back to England. Despite this course change for a few years, his career kept leading Wack in the same direction: the influenza virus and its interplay with the immune system. In this interview, Andreas Wack enlightens us on how every Winter’s flu shot is decided upon; the difference one scientist makes in a research institute as opposed to in a pharmaceutical company; and why overachievers sometimes aren’t his first choice when he’s recruiting newcomers.

Nuno Camboa is the epitome of a Portugal-trained scientist who made it overseas. After a decade at the University of California, San Diego, he is now back in Europe, specifically in Germany, where he set up his own research lab. What new challenges does this new and exciting phase in his career bring about? Listen in to find out.

Orchestral. This is how Elias Barriga describes the way cell groups move along different sorts of tissues. His work focuses on the mechanisms governing how cells travel across the body. On the cusp of establishing his own lab, Barriga broaches the topics that pique his scientific interest, while taking heed of the main challenges in Cell Biology today.

Javier Rojo, Tinkering with the immune system. Driven by curiosity in everything he does, science is no exception. With a background in Chemistry, Javier Rojo quickly found himself immersed in a journey towards answering very concrete questions in the field of immunology.

She pursues it out of passion and the desire to do good, especially because, according to her and contrary to Portugal’s scenario, it’s harder to get funded when you work in applied research. Find out what she looks for in newcomers and her perspective – as a Brown alumna – on Ivy League education.

Leishmaniasis isn’t exactly a disease that catches the eye of the public at large, but why would we neglect infectious and parasite diseases just because they don’t touch our sheltered existence? Barbara Papadopoulou is out to show that there is much more to the health sciences than first world illnesses and strives to raise scientific and political awareness of the health threat faced by more vulnerable communities.