Dr Jacobo Elies

Dr Jacobo Elíes is Lecturer in Pharmacology at the University of Bradford. He studied Pharmacy and then undertook a PhD in Pharmacology at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). In 2009, Dr Elies moved to the University of Leeds to join Professor Chris Peers’ group at the Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine as a postdoctoral researcher. Across two postdoctoral appointments, he studied the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases associated with skin diseases, by investigating the regulation of ion channels by gasotransmitters. In 2015, Dr Elies was awarded a Wellcome Trust ISSF Junior Investigator Development Fellowship at the University of Leeds to investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in cellular communication between different dermal cell types and how dysregulation of their functions can affect the skin microvasculature. Since then, he has continued to explore the origin of dermal endothelial dysfunction in skin autoimmune diseases such as Systemic Sclerosis, Lupus erythematosus and Psoriasis. Current projects are focused on: in vitro organotypic co-cultures for the study of skin blood vessel formation, hypoxia, oxidative stress and calcium handling in dermal microvasculature. His main interest resides in cellular communication between mesenchymal and endothelial cells and how dysregulation of integumentary system can affect the microvasculature.