Canto-Gomes is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minho, with a focus on immunology and its role in chronic diseases. He graduated with a degree in Applied Biology in 2015, followed by a Master’s in Health Sciences in 2017, and completed his Ph.D. in 2023, all at the University of Minho. His early research explored the immune recovery of HIV-infected patients after antiretroviral therapy, igniting his passion for immunology (PMID: 30804925). During his Master’s, he investigated immune system alterations in individuals with multiple sclerosis. He later expanded his research to study immune responses in tuberculosis (PMID: 34887849) and contributed to projects focused on identifying biomarkers for SARS-CoV-2 (PMID: 35076790, 33484862). Awarded a Ph.D. fellowship in 2018, Canto-Gomes focused his doctoral research on T cell phenotypes in multiple sclerosis, where he and his colleagues discovered that people with multiple sclerosis have a less mature T cell phenotype (PMID: 35711452; 36766781). His expertise led to involvement in Roche’s Musette and Gavotte clinical trials. In 2022, Canto-Gomes received an EMBO Scientific Exchange Grant, facilitating his placement at the University of Oxford. There, he studied virus-specific T cell receptor repertoires, particularly Epstein-Barr virus, and contributed to a project identifying HLA-E-restricted CD8+ T cells responsive to SARS-CoV-2 peptides (PMID: 37390223). His current research AIMs to: 1) explore the T cell receptor repertoire specific to Epstein-Barr Virus in people with multiple sclerosis; 2) elucidate the mechanisms underlying the less mature T cell phenotype in multiple sclerosis. Canto-Gomes’ ongoing projects include the REVERT-MS study, focusing on the isolation and sequencing of BZLF1-specific HLA-E-restricted CD8+ T cells, and a project he leads as the Principal Investigator, funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, investigating the role of the blood plasma milieu in T cell function in people with multiple sclerosis. His work seeks to advance understanding of T cell dysfunction in multiple sclerosis, with a particular focus on Epstein-Barr virus’s role in the disease’s progression.
Canto-Gomes is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minho, with a focus on immunology and its role in chronic diseases. He graduated with a degree in Applied Biology in 2015, followed by a Master’s in Health Sciences in 2017, and completed his Ph.D. in 2023, all at the University of Minho. His early research explored the immune recovery of HIV-infected patients after antiretroviral therapy, igniting his passion for immunology (PMID: 30804925). During his Master’s, he investigated immune system alterations in individuals with multiple sclerosis. He later expanded his research to study immune responses in tuberculosis (PMID: 34887849) and contributed to projects focused on identifying biomarkers for SARS-CoV-2 (PMID: 35076790, 33484862). Awarded a Ph.D. fellowship in 2018, Canto-Gomes focused his doctoral research on T cell phenotypes in multiple sclerosis, where he and his colleagues discovered that people with multiple sclerosis have a less mature T cell phenotype (PMID: 35711452; 36766781). His expertise led to involvement in Roche’s Musette and Gavotte clinical trials. In 2022, Canto-Gomes received an EMBO Scientific Exchange Grant, facilitating his placement at the University of Oxford. There, he studied virus-specific T cell receptor repertoires, particularly Epstein-Barr virus, and contributed to a project identifying HLA-E-restricted CD8+ T cells responsive to SARS-CoV-2 peptides (PMID: 37390223). His current research AIMs to: 1) explore the T cell receptor repertoire specific to Epstein-Barr Virus in people with multiple sclerosis; 2) elucidate the mechanisms underlying the less mature T cell phenotype in multiple sclerosis. Canto-Gomes’ ongoing projects include the REVERT-MS study, focusing on the isolation and sequencing of BZLF1-specific HLA-E-restricted CD8+ T cells, and a project he leads as the Principal Investigator, funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, investigating the role of the blood plasma milieu in T cell function in people with multiple sclerosis. His work seeks to advance understanding of T cell dysfunction in multiple sclerosis, with a particular focus on Epstein-Barr virus’s role in the disease’s progression.
Selected Publications:
“Distinct disease-modifying therapies are associated with different blood immune cell profiles in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis”
J. Canto-Gomes, D. Boleixa, C. Teixeira, A. Martins da Silva, I. González-Suárez, J. J. Cerqueira, M. Correia-Neves and C. Nobrega
International Immunopharmacology. (2024). 131:111826
DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2024.111826.
“People with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis have a lower number of central memory T cells and HLA-DR+ Tregs”
J. Canto-Gomes, S. da Silva-Ferreira, C. S. Silva, D. Boleixa, A. Martins da Silva, I. González-Suárez, J. J. Cerqueira, M. Correia-Neves and C. Nobrega
Cells (2023). 12(3):439
DOI: 10.3390/cells12030439
“HLA-E-restricted SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells from convalescent COVID-19 patients suppress virus replication despite HLA class Ia down-regulation”
H. Yang, H. Sun, S. Brackenridge, X. Zhuang, P. A. C. Wing, M. Quastel, L. Walters, L. Garner, B. Wang, X. Yao, S. Ling Felce, Y. Peng, S. Moore, B. W. A. Peeters, M. Rei, J. Canto-Gomes, A. Tomas, A. Davidson, M. G. Semple, L. C. W. Turtle, P. J. M. Openshaw, J. K. Baillie, A. J. Mentzer, P. Klenerman, ISARIC4C Investigators, P. Borrow, T. Dong, J. A. McKeating, G. M. Gillespie, A. J. McMichael
Science Immunology (2023). 8(84).eabl8881
DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abl8881.
“Low memory T cells blood counts and high naïve regulatory T cells percentage at relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis diagnosis”
J. Canto-Gomes, C. S. Silva, R. Rb-Silva, D. Boleixa, A. Martins Da Silva, R. Cheynier, P. Soares Costa, I. González- Suárez, M. Correia-Neves, J. J. Cerqueira and C. Nobrega
Front. Immunol. (2022). 13: 901165
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.901165
“Increased Gal-3BP plasma levels in hospitalized patients infected with SARS-CoV-2”
V. Gallo, ISERC-Team, R. Gentile, G. Antonini, S. Iacobelli
Clin. Exp. Med. (2022). 23:151
DOI: 10.1007/s10238-021-00788-8.
“Performance assessment of 11 commercial serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 on hospitalized COVID-19 patients”
C. Serre-Miranda*, C. Nobrega*, S. Roque*, J. Canto-Gomes, C. S. Silva, N. Vieira, P. Barreira-Silva, P. Alves-Peixoto, J. Cotter, A. Reis, M. Formigo, H. Sarmento, O. Pires, A. Carvalho, D. Y. Petrovykh, L. Diéguez, J. C. Sousa, N. Sousa, C. Capela, J. A. Palha, P. G. Cunha, M. Correia-Neves
Int. J. Inf. Dis. (2021). 104:661
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.01.038
“High Dimensional Immune Profiling Reveals Different Response Patterns in Active and Latent Tuberculosis Following Stimulation with Mycobacterial Glycolipids”
C. S. Silva, C. Sundling, E. Folkesson, G. Fröberg, C. Nobrega, J. Canto-Gomes, B. J. Chambers, T. Lakshmikanth, P. Brodin, J. Bruchfeld, J. Nigou, M. Correia-Neves, G. Kallenius
Front. Immunol. (2021). 12:727300
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.727300
“Thymic function as a predictor of immune recovery in chronically HIV-infected patients initiating antiretroviral therapy”
R. Rb-Silva, C. Nobrega, C. Azevedo, E. Athayde, J. do Canto Gomes, I. Ferreira, R. Cheynier, A. Yates, A. Horta, M. Correia-Neves
Front. Immunol. (2019). 2:25
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00025
Grants:
07/2022 Awardee, EMBO Scientific Exchange Grant, Funder: EMBO
Projects:
2025 (PI), “Unravelling T-Cell Dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis: Can Plasma Hold the Key?”, Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS) University of Minho, Braga, Portugal; Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).
2022-2024 (Team member), “Tcells@MS-Why are peripheral T cells less mature at Multiple Sclerosis clinical onset?”, Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS) University of Minho, Braga, Portugal; Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).
2021-2024 (Team member), “Assessment of SARS-COV-2 vaccine response in patients with multiple sclerosis (COVACiMS)”, Funders: Grupo de Estudos em Esclerose Multipla (GEEM), Roche and Biogen.
2020-2021 (Team member), “Which, when and for who? Serodiagnosis as a tool to complement diagnosis and evaluate population immunity against SARS-CoV-2”, Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), University of Minho, Braga, Portugal; Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).
2018-2020 (Team member), “Relation between regulatory T cells and immunological hyperactivation associated co-morbilities of chronically infected HIV-infected patients”, Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS) University of Minho, Braga, Portugal; Funder: Gilead Sciences Lda.
This project builds on previous findings from my group that newly diagnosed, treatment-naive people with multiple sclerosis have fewer memory T cells compared to age- and sex-matched healthy controls.
This project aims to explore the immune system on multiple sclerosis pathophysiology and is divided in 3 branches:
– Tcells@MS. Our recent studies on newly diagnoses RRMS and PPMS patients…
Phone: +351 253 604 967
Fax: +351 253 604 809
Email: icvs.sec@med.uminho.pt
Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal
Copyright ©2022 ICVS. All Rights Reserved
Copyright ©2022 ICVS. All Rights Reserved
Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal
Copyright ©2022 ICVS. All Rights Reserved
Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal
