Giorgio Raimondi, MSC, PhD

Giorgio Raimondi is the associate scientific director for transplant immunology at Johns Hopkins’ Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA) Research Laboratory and assistant professor in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Born and raised in Italy, he obtained a Master of Science degree (advanced studies in immunology) through a joint course between the University of Milano-Bicocca in Milan and the Institut Pasteur in Paris. He then obtained his Ph.D. (biotechnology with a focus on immunological tolerance) at the University of Milano-Bicocca. Dr. Raimondi’s postdoctoral studies were at the University of Pittsburgh’s Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, where he forged his expertise on T lymphocytes and regulatory T cell immunobiology with a focus on development of new immunoregulation strategies for solid organ transplant rejection. Dr. Raimondi joined Johns Hopkins in 2013.

The VCA Research Laboratory’s transplant immunology section is devoted to pushing the boundaries of immunological research by improving understanding of the complex mechanisms of transplant rejection as well as devising novel strategies to exploit mechanisms underlying immune response regulation. Dr. Raimondi believes that meaningful advancements in research can only derive from the smooth integration of multidisciplinary approaches. Moreover, he believes the immune system’s intricacies can be better understood by juxtaposing the results of investigations in tangential areas, hence the lab’s additional focus on the immunology of autoimmune diseases, particularly type 1 diabetes. It is with this philosophy that Dr. Raimondi promotes the collaborative work among laboratory fellows and experts in other areas, such as biomaterial scientists and bioengineers (for actuation of novel drug delivery approaches and biomimetic strategies) as well as computational modelers (to better understand the dynamics of transplant rejection and identify unanticipated points of intervention).

Driven by the values of honesty and respect, Dr. Raimondi enjoys being surrounded by young, curious minds, and learning from them while promoting their out-of-the-box thinking and nurturing their growth as inquisitive and independent scientists. Dr. Raimondi often draws his thoughts on a whiteboard and loves applying the Feynman Technique.