Ana Mafalda Santos

Mafalda Santos is a molecular immunologist whose research has focused on how T cells detect and process information through the T cell receptor and its co-receptors. She obtained her PhD from the University of Porto under Professor Alexandre Carmo and has been based at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, since 2013, working with Professor Simon Davis.

Her work integrates biophysics, super-resolution imaging, and molecular and structural biology to uncover the mechanisms underlying immune receptor triggering. She has contributed to major advances in understanding how receptor-ligand interactions and nanoscale cell-cell contacts shape early T cell activation and immune decision-making.

Mafalda is a co-applicant on a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award, supporting research that builds directly on these findings. Her research aims to define the molecular and physical principles governing lymphocytes activation and downstream signalling, with the goal of informing new approaches to modulate immune responses in cancer, autoimmunity, and infection.