Farewell Fernanda!

Last week we said our fond farewells to Fernanda, a final-year PhD student from completing a 5-month placement in the CRG. She joined us from Fernando Cunha’s lab based at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, and first met Gerry at the Brazilian Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics congress in 2015. It was her interest in ACKR2 and its role in sepsis/endotoxic shock which led her to swap Brazilian summer for an especially poor Glaswegian winter.

ACKR2, historically known as D6, is a member of the atypical chemokine receptor family (and the most important member, depending on who you ask). We have a particular interest in ACKR2 here in the CRG: the receptor first being cloned and characterised by the group almost 20 years ago, and a majority of our current work focusing on the role of the receptor in both biological and pathological processes.

Although she was surprised by how impenetrable the Glaswegian accent can be for a foreign visitor, Fernanda fit in well and made some great contributions to ongoing work within in the group. It’s been an absolute pleasure to have her with us, and I’m happy to say that she enjoyed her time here too!