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Alessandro Sette, Dr. Biol. Sci.
Professor and Member
La Jolla Institute for Immunology, Division of Vaccine Discovery
Co-Director of the Center for Vaccine Innovation
Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research
Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation
"I am impressed with the RiverVest team’s inclination to dig into due diligence and ability to truly grasp the science and the implications of the science. At a time when the opportunities in immunology are greater than ever before, RiverVest is very well positioned to identify and invest in interesting companies."
Alessandro Sette, Dr. Biol. Sci.
SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR
LA JOLLA, CA
ADVISOR SINCE 2022
Alessandro Sette is a professor at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in the Centers for Autoimmunity and Inflammation and Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research. Dr. Sette has spent over 35 years studying immune responses to cancer, autoimmunity, allergy, and infectious diseases. His laboratory defines in chemical terms the specific structures (epitopes) that the immune system recognizes and uses this knowledge to measure and understand immune responses. The lab’s research will improve understanding of how the body successfully battles infection and how pathogens escape the immune system.
Dr. Sette’s disease focus has shifted over the years from HIV, HBV, and HCV to emerging diseases and diseases of potential biodefense concern to diseases and pathogens relevant to worldwide global health, including dengue, Zika, chikungunya, malaria, M. tuberculosis, B. pertussis, shingles, and most recently, SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, Dr. Sette’s team has adapted the methods and techniques developed in the context of infectious disease to understand the T cell response to common allergens and to discover a cell component in Parkinson’s disease.
The first to define successful adaptive response to SARS CoV2, by studying mild convalescent samples, Dr. Sette’s lab defined durability of immune memory in natural infection and vaccination; reported the phenomenon of SARS CoV2 preexisting immune memory in unexposed donors and demonstrated its influence on vaccination outcomes; and demonstrated that T cell responses are largely preserved in terms of recognition of SARS CoV2 variants, including Omicron and Delta.
Currently, Dr. Sette’s lab is involved in the study of potential pandemic threats and microbial outbreaks, including Avian Flu and MPOX.
Dr. Sette is a co-author of over 1,000 peer-reviewed publications, is an inventor on 41 U.S.-issued patents, and is identified by Clarivate as a “Highly Cited Researcher.” Among his many honors and awards, Dr. Sette is an Elected Fellow of the AAAS (2020); Elected Honorary Member of the Accademia Medica di Roma (2021); Fellow of Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society; and Elected Fellow of the American Society of Microbiology (2023). Dr. Sette is an Adjunct Professor for UCSD as well as The Scripps Research Institute. Previously, he was a Founder of Epimmune, Inc., a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company, and Director of Immunology for Cytel Corporation.