Sofía Frigerio Liddle

ESR 13- Understanding the etiology of IBD associated extraintestinal manifestations and cancer

Sofía was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, where she studied Bachelor in Biochemistry obtaining her grade in 2017. In 2016 she started working in the Department of Immunobiology, at the Faculty of Medicine, University of the Republic, Uruguay, where she taught basic and clinical Immunology for medical students. In the same year, she took part of a project in collaboration with the Department of Gastroenterology, analyzing the immune response in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

In March 2020, Sofía finished her Master in Biological Sciences, with specialization in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of the Republic, Uruguay. Her main scientific interests during her Bachelor and Master projects have been related to the modulation of the immune system by the trematode parasite Fasciola hepatica, which infects humans as well as livestock and causes liver and intestinal inflammation. During her Master studies, she had the opportunity to learn many techniques in the area of Immunology and Molecular Biology, and also to perform an internship in the Laboratory of Scientific Image Analysis in Universidad de Chile.

When finishing her Master degree, she decided to continue with her academic career and to pursue a PhD at the Amsterdam UMC. Her PhD project is under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Geert D’Haens and Dr. Joep Grootjans, and seeks to identify the etiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) – associated diseases, such as colorectal cancer, as well as understanding the role of the immune exhaustion that takes part in chronic inflammation, which is distinctive of these pathologies.

As hobbies she really enjoys travelling, walking surrounded by nature and attending Scottish dance classes