Silvia Fanti, MSc, MRes, PhD

Email: s.fanti@qmul.ac.uk Mobile: +447533935599

EDUCATION

• 2019-2023 BHF-sponsored PhD (Awarded on 30th September 2023). Title: ‘Defining autoimmune T cell responses in Autoimmune Myocarditis’, William Harvey Research Institute (WHRI), Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FMD), Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Supervisor: Federica Marelli-Berg
• 2018-2019 BHF-sponsored MRes, BHF-sponsored MRes. Set up and characterization of a model of acute Autoimmune Myocarditis.
• 2016-2017 MSc in Molecular Medicine (Brunel University and WHRI) in which I studied the regulation of endothelial cell metabolism by the Ig-like molecule CD31.

EMPLOYMENT

2024-present BHF Immediate Postdoctoral Basic Science Research Fellow at Queen Mary University, Centre for Biochemical Pharmacology, William Harvey research Institute (WHRI), Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. Currently investigating the role of T-cell and autoimmunity in Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy in collaboration with King’s College and UCL.

2023-2024 Post-doctoral Fellow. Centre for Biochemical Pharmacology, William Harvey research Institute (WHRI), Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, currently investigating the role of cMet in Chronic Myocarditis.

2019-2023 PhD Student. Centre for Biochemical Pharmacology, William Harvey research Institute (WHRI), Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London.

PUBLICATIONS

–Fanti S., Dyer C., Ingimarsdóttir I.J., Harding D., Wang G., D’Amati A., Shahaj E., Sigurbergsdóttir A.Ý., Thórsdóttir H., Gunnarsdóttir O.B., Kanoni S., Wright P., Martin J.F., Chorlton J., Hollowood Z., Brynjólfsson S.F., Lúdvíksson B.R., Solito E., Bert S., Keane J.M., Mohiddin S.A., Longhi M.P., Marelli-Berg F. ‘Combined Adaptive Immune Mechanisms Mediate Cardiac Injury After COVID-19 Vaccination’. Circulation. 2025 Oct 30;152(21):1485–1500. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.125.074644.

-Vyas V., Sandhar B., Keane J., Wood E., Blythe H., Jones A., Shahaj E., Fanti S., Williams J., Metic N., Efremova M., Leng Ng H., Feldhahn N., Marelli-Berg FM., Tinker A., Finlay M., Longhi MP. ‘Tissue-resident memory T cells in Epicardial adipose tissue comprise transcriptionally distinct subsets that are modulated in Atrial Fibrillation’. Nat Cardiovasc Res August, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44161-024-00532-x.

– Harding D.*, Fanti S.* & Marelli-Berg F.* ‘TNF-α and Cardiac inflammation: friend or foe?’ Cardiovascular Res, Dec 7 2023. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvad180.

*Equal contribution

– Fu H.*, Vuononvirta J.*, Fanti S., Bonacina F., D’Amati A., Wang G., Poobalasingam T., Fankhaenel M., Lucches D., Coleby R., Tarussio D., Thorens B., Hearnden R. , Longhi MP. , Grevitt P., Sheikh M., Solito E. , Godinho S. , Bombardieri M. , Smith D. , Cooper D., Iqbal A., Rathmell J. , Schaefer S., Morales V., Bianchi K. , Norata G. , and Marelli-Berg FM. ‘The Glucose Transporter 2 regulates CD8+ T-cell function via environment sensing’ . Nat Metab. Oct 26 2023.doi: 10.1038/s42255-023-00913-9.

– Ward EJ. *, Bert S.*, Fanti S., Malone KM., Maughan RT., Gkantsinikoudi C., Prin F., Volpato LK., Piovezan AP., Graham GJ., Dufton NP., Perretti M., Marelli-Berg FM., Nadkarni S. ‘Placental Inflammation Leads to Abnormal Embryonic Heart Development’. Circulation. 2023 Mar 21;147(12):956-972. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.122.061934. Epub 2022 Dec 9. PMID: 36484244; PMCID: PMC10022676.

-Sheikh M.H., Errede M., d’Amati A., Khan N.Q., Fanti S., Loiola R.A., McArthur S., Purvis G.S.D., O’Riordan C.E., Ferorelli D., Dell’Erba A., Kieswich J., Reutelingsperger C., Maiorano E., Yaqoob M., Thiemermann C., Baragetti A., Catapano A.L., Norata G.D., Marelli-Berg F., Virgintino D., Solito E. ‘Impact of metabolic disorders on the structural, functional, and immunological integrity of the blood–brain barrier: Therapeutic avenues.’ FASEB J. 2022 Jan;36(1):e22107. doi:10.1096/fj.202101297R.

– Fanti S. *, Stephenson E. *, Rocha-Vieira E., Protonotarios A., Kanoni S., Shahaj E., Longhi MP., Vyas VS., Dyer C., Pontarini E., Asimaki A., Bueno-Beti C., De Gaspari M., Rizzo S., Basso C., Bombardieri M., Coe D., Wang G., Harding D, Gallagher I., Solito E., Elliott P., Heymans S., Sikking M., Savvatis K., Mohiddin SA., Marelli-Berg FM. Circulating c-Met-Expressing Memory T Cells Define Cardiac Autoimmunity. 2022 December. Circulation. 20;146(25):1930-1945. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.055610. Epub 2022 Nov 23. PMID: 36417924; PMCID: PMC9770129.

– Fanti S.*, Cheung, K.C.P.*, Mauro, C., Wang G., Nair A., Fu H., Angeletti S., Spoto S., Fogolari M., Romano F., Aksentijevic D., Liu W., Li B., Cheng L., Jiang L., Vuononvirta J., Poobalasingam T., Smith D., Ciccozzi M., Solito E., Marelli-Berg FM. ‘Preservation of microvascular barrier function requires CD31.receptor-induced metabolic reprogramming’. Nat Commun 11, 3595, 2020 July. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17329-8.

AWARDS

• Immediate Postdoctoral Basic Science Research Fellowship from British Heart Foundation (2024-2028) •Best oral presentation (2022) PHD WHRI Symposia ‘cMet+ memory T cells define autoimmunity in myocarditis’. •Best Poster (2022) 24th International Symposium, Signal Transduction at the Blood-Brain Barriers (Bari) the metabolic fate of microglia cells isolated from aging mice. •Best Poster (2021) William Harvey Annual Review, Defining the adaptive immune response in Autoimmune Myocarditis. •British Society for Immunology travel grant 2021/ 2022