Elisa Oltra

Dr. Elisa Oltra is full professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at the Catholic University of Valencia (UCV) and a lead researcher in the area of stem-cell and immunity. PhD in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology by the University of Miami, FL (USA) and post-doctoral training in yeast genetics, joined the UCV in 2009. In 2012 she joined the IVP Valencian Institute of Pathology, also at the UCV, to study the potential role of exosomes in stem-cell based therapies, while being the academic director of the first officially accredited Master’s degree in Biobanking in Europe in collaboration with the Spanish Network of Biobanking at the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid (Spain). During her studies at the University of Miami she identified alternative 5´UTR sequences involved in regulating cell-cell communication through mechanisms of differential connexin43 expression in the heart. She also discovered a novel essential protein (Ini1) and demonstrated its participation in mechanisms of transcription and splicing. At the UCV she investigates the molecular basis of Fibromyalgia, and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long COVID-19, having identified irregularities in circulating microRNAs and other epigenetic changes, including altered expression of human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) in immune cells, and additional blood differences which are leading to a deeper understanding of these post-viral chronic diseases. She worked as chair of the Biomarker group of the ME/CFS Common Data Element initiative at the NIH (USA) and is a member of the Oversight Committee. She is also member of the EMERG (European Research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Group) group since 2014. The network of collaborators includes teams from the University of Oxford, Hospital Charité in Berlin (Germany), Institute of Neuro-Immune Medicine at Nova South-eastern University in Ft. Lauderdale (USA) among many other.