Valentino D'Onofrio obtained his PhD at Hasselt University (Belgium) and Radboud University (The Netherlands) where he focused on the innate immune mechanisms and host response to infections in sepsis patients.

Currently, he is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Vaccinology at Ghent University and Ghent University Hospital, where he is  involved in the clinical evaluation and immunogenicity of novel vaccines and adjuvants, with a particular focus on mechanisms of action of adjuvants.

In 2024, he was a visiting fellow at the Emory Vaccine Center at Emory University in Atlanta (US), where he was extensively trained in systems biology approaches to investigate immune responses, including single-cell transcriptomic and epigenetic sequencing techniques.

At CEVAC, dr. D'Onofrio effectively introduced these systems approaches and now uses a systems vaccinology approach to better understand immune activation following adjuvanted vaccination and if and how this can effectively enhance protective immunity.

He is especially interested in inter-individual variability, induced by sex and age, in host response to vaccines andinfections. In this regard, a key research area is “endocrine immunology” and understanding sex and gender differences in immune responses to vaccination. In this context, he recently started a clinical trial with transgender persons to investigate how hormonal influences, in this case gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) modulatevaccine-induced immune responses. The overall goal is to reach more inclusive adult immunization strategies, especially in LGBTQIA+ minority groups.