Charaf Benarafa PhD, DVM, Post-Doc

Dr. Charaf Benarafa, Ph.D., DVM, Post-Doc a veterinarian and immunologist. My lab investigates molecular mechanisms of cell death in leukocytes, inflammatory responses, and immune responses to infection including SARS-CoV-2 and African Swine Fever. I obtained my DVM at the University of Liège (1996), where I worked on bovine herpesviruses as a veterinary undergraduate student with Alain Vanderplasschen in the lab of the late Paul-Pierre Pastoret. I obtained a Ph.D. in immunology with Fiona Cunnigham, Margaret Collins, and Anne Hamblin (2001, Royal Veterinary College, University of London), where I characterized horse chemokines and their role in equine allergic skin disease. I completed my post-doctoral training in the lab of Eileen Remold-O’Donnell at the Center for Blood Research, Harvard Medical School, Boston, working on the serpin family of serine protease inhibitors, neutrophil biology, and lung diseases. I established my lab at the Theodor Kocher Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland (2009). In Bern, I further developed my interest in cell death, lung inflammation and infection. I obtained my Habilitation in immunology (2014, University of Bern).