Innate lymphoid cells (ILC) are the most recently defined cell family to be included to the increasingly complex atlas of the immune system. ILC have a lymphoid morphology, lack rearranged antigen receptors and are abundantly present at mucosal surfaces. The combined expression of lineage-specific transcription factors with discrete cytokine profiles led to the identification of distinct ILC subsets. ILC development and function have been widely perceived to be programmed. However, emerging evidence indicates that ILC are also controlled by complex environmental signals. Here, we will discuss how ILC perceive, integrate and respond to their environment, notably to nutritional and neuronal cues.
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Henrique Veiga-Fernandes studied Veterinary Medicine at Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal and at Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. In 2002, he obtained a PhD in Immunology from Université René Descartes, Paris, France, before moving to the National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK, as a postdoc. In 2009, he returned to Portugal to set up his independent research group at Instituto de Medicina Molecular, where he became member of the direction team in 2014. In 2016, Henrique Veiga-Fernandes joined the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, Portugal, where he is currently a Senior Group Leader. Henrique Veiga-Fernandes was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) in 2015, and he was made Commander of the Order of Sant’Iago da Espada by Portugal in the same year. He secured several European Research Council (ERC) awards (2007, 2013, 2015 and 2017) and has previously won the Pfizer Prize for basic Science (2014 and 2016), the senior research award from the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, USA (2014), the Innovator and Breakthrough Awards from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, USA (2013 and 2014), the National Blood Foundation Scholar, USA (2012), and he integrated the EMBO Young Investigator Programme in 2008.