Founding Members

Dr. Laia Solano-Gallego received her DVM degree from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in 1996. Her PhD concerned the immunology and diagnosis of canine leishmaniosis from the same University from 1997-2001. She did a post-doctoral clinical research in vector borne diseases of dogs and cats at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the North Carolina State University (USA) during 2002-2003. She did a small animal rotating internship at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Purdue University (USA) during 2003-2004. Dr. Solano-Gallego worked at the private hospital and laboratory of San Marco (Padova, Italy) where she performed clinicodiagnostic activity and clinical research in clinical pathology and internal medicine with predominant interest in vector borne diseases of dogs and cats during 2004-2007. She is Diplomate of European College of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ECVCP) since 2006. She was a Lecturer in Veterinary Clinical Pathology at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) of University of London during 2007-2011. Currently, she is an full professor at UAB.

Dr. Laia Solano-Gallego’s research interests focus on the pathogenesis, immunology, diagnosis, clinical aspects, treatment and prevention of veterinary and zoonotic vector-borne infectious diseases including leishmaniosis.

Dr. Laia Solano-Gallego heads a laboratory for the research of vector-borne diseases. Dr. Laia Solano-Gallego’s research is funded by several international and national funding agencies including the European Community, BBSRC (UK), Spanish government and several private pharmaceutical companies. She has extensive research collaborations with the Royal Veterinary College (University of London), the Hebrew University Veterinary School, Università di Messina (Italy), Hellenic Pasteur Institute (Greece) and other national, European and American Veterinary Schools and Universities.

136 manuscripts published in peer reviewed international journals, three books, 21 book chapters, many oral communications and poster and lectures as invited speaker in national and international congresses.

1. SOLANO-GALLEGO L., LLULL J., RAMOS G., RIERA C., ARBOIX M., ALBEROLA J., FERRER L., 2000. The Ibizian hound presents a predominant cellular immune response against natural Leishmania infection. Veterinary Parasitology, 90: 37-45.
2. SOLANO-GALLEGO L., MORELL P., ARBOIX M., ALBEROLA J., FERRER L., 2001. Prevalence of Leishmania infantum infection in dogs living in an area of canine leishmaniasis endemicity using PCR on several tissues and serology. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 39: 560-563. 
3. SOLANO-GALLEGO L.,  Riera C., Roura X., Iniesta L., Gallego M., Fisa R., Valladares J.E., Castillejo S., Alberola J., Ferrer L., Arboix M., Portús M., 2001.  Leishmania infantum specific total IgG, IgG1 and IgG2 subclasses in naturally and experimentally infected dogs with and without treatment. Veterinary Parasitology, 96: 265-276.
4. SOLANO-GALLEGO L., RODRIGUEZ A, INIESTA L, ARBOIX M, PORTUS M, ALBEROLA J., 2003. Detection of anti-Leishmania immunoglobulin G antibodies in urine specimens of dogs with leishmaniasis. Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, 10: 849-855.
5. SOLANO-GALLEGO L., FERNANDEZ-BELLON H, MORELL P, FONDEVILA D, ALBEROLA J, RAMIS A, FERRER L., 2004. Histological and immunohistochemical study of clinically normal skin of Leishmania infantum-infected dogs. Journal of Comparative Pathology, 130:7-12.
6. SOLANO-GALLEGO L., LLULL J., RAMIS A., FERNANDEZ-BELLON H., RODRIGUEZ A., FERRER L., ALBEROLA J., 2005. A longitudinal study of serology and leishmanin skin test on dogs living in a high endemic area of leishmaniasis in Spain. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 72: 815-818.
7. ORDEIX L., SOLANO-GALLEGO L., FONDEVILA D., FERRER L., FONDATI, A., 2005.  Papular dermatitis due to Leishmania in dogs with parasite-specific cellular immune response. Veterinary Dermatology, 16:187-91.
8. FERNÁNDEZ-BELLON H., SOLANO-GALLEGO L., BARDAGI M., ALBEROLA J., RODRÍGUEZ A., RAMIS A., FERRER LL., 2006. Immuneresponses to Leishmania infantum in healthy horses in Spain. Veterinary Parasitology, 135: 181-185. 
9. SOLANO-GALLEGO, L., RODRÍGUEZ, A., INIESTA, L., QUINTANA J., PASTOR, J., ESPADA, Y., PORTÚS, M., ALBEROLA, J.  2007. Cross-sectional serosurvey of feline leishmaniasis in ecoregions around northwestern mediterranean. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 76:676-680.
10. RODRÍGUEZ-CORTES, A., FERNÁNDEZ-BELLÓN, H., RAMIS, A.,  FERRER L, ALBEROLA, J., SOLANO-GALLEGO, L. 2007. Leishmania-specific isotype levels and their relationship with specific cell-mediated immunity parameters in canine leishmaniasis. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, 116:190-198.
11. SOLANO-GALLEGO L., RODRÍGUEZ-CORTES, A., TROTTA, M., ZAMPIERON C., RAZIA L., FURLANELLO T., CALDIN, M., ROURA, X., ALBEROLA, J., 2007. Detection of Leishmania infantum DNA by fret-based real time PCR in urine from dogs with natural clinical leishmaniosis. Veterinary Parasitology, 147:315-319.
12. TODOLÍ F, SOLANO-GALLEGO L, DE JUAN R, MORELL P, NÚÑEZ MC, LASA R, GÓMEZ-SEBASTIÁN S, ESCRIBANOJM, JORDI ALBEROLA, RODRÍGUEZ-CORTÉS A., 2010. Humoral and in vivo Cellular Immunity against the Raw Insect-derived Recombinant Leishmania infantum antigens KMPII, TRYP, LACK and papLe22 in Dogs from an Endemic Area. Am J Trop Med Hyg 83(6):1287-1294.
13. SHERRY K, MIRÓ G, TROTTA M, MIRANDA C, MONTOYA A, ESPINOSA C, RIBAS F, FURLANELLO T, SOLANO-GALLEGO L. 2011. A Serological and Molecular Study of Leishmania infantum Infection in Cats from the Island of Ibiza (Spain). Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 11(3):239-245. 
14. LOMBARDO G, PENNISI MG, LUPO T, MIGLIAZZO A, CAPRÌ A, SOLANO-GALLEGO L. 2012. Detection of Leishmania infantum DNA by real-time PCR in canine oral and conjunctival swabs and comparison with other diagnostic techniques. Vet Parasitol. 184(1):10-7. 
15. SOLANO-GALLEGO L, ROSSI L, SCROCCARO AM, MONTARSI F, CALDIN M, FURLANELLO T, TROTTA M. 2012. Detection of Leishmania infantum DNA mainly in Rhipicephalus sanguineus male ticks removed from dogs living in endemic areas of canine leishmaniosis. Parasites and vectors  5:98. 
16. SOLANO-GALLEGO L, VILLANUEVA-SAZ S, CARBONELL M, TROTTA M, FURLANELLO T, NATALE A. 2014. Serological diagnosis of canine leishmaniosis: comparison of three commercial ELISA tests (Leiscan, ID Screen and Leishmania 96), a rapid test (Speed Leish K) and an in-house IFAT. Parasit Vectors. Mar 24;7:111.
17. LOMBARDO G, PENNISI MG, LUPO T, CHICHARRO C, SOLANO-GALLEGO L. 2014. Papular dermatitis due to Leishmania infantum infection in seventeen dogs: diagnostic features, extent of the infection and treatment outcome. Parasit Vectors. Mar 24;7:120. 
18. MATTIN MJ, SOLANO-GALLEGO L, DHOLLANDER S, AFONSO A, BRODBELT DC. 2014. The frequency and distribution of canine leishmaniosis diagnosed by veterinary practitioners in Europe. Vet J. Jun;200(3):410-9. 
19. ESTEVE LO, SAZ SV, HOSEIN S, SOLANO-GALLEGO L. 2015. Histopathological findings and detection of toll-like receptor 2 in cutaneous lesions of canine leishmaniosis.Vet Parasitol. Apr 30;209(3-4):157-63.
20. HOSEIN S, RODRÍGUEZ-CORTÉS A, BLAKE DP, ALLENSPACH K, ALBEROLA J,  SOLANO-GALLEGO L. 2015. Transcription of toll-like receptors 2, 3, 4 and 9, FoxP3 and Th17 cytokines in a susceptible experimental model of canine Leishmania infantum infection PLOS one. 14;10(10):e0140325
21. HOSEIN S, BLAKE DP, SOLANO-GALLEGO L. 2017. Insights on adaptive and innate immunity in canine leishmaniosis. Parasitology. 144(1):95-115.
22. MONTSERRAT-SANGRÀ S, ORDEIX L, MARTÍNEZ-ORELLANA P, SOLANO-GALLEGO L. 2018. Parasite Specific Antibody Levels, Interferon-γ and TLR2 and TLR4 Transcripts in Blood from Dogs with Different Clinical Stages of Leishmaniosis. Vet Sci. 16;5(1).
23. BAXARIAS M, ÁLVAREZ-FERNÁNDEZ A, MARTÍNEZ-ORELLANA P, MONTSERRAT-SANGRÀ S, ORDEIX L, ROJAS A, NACHUM-BIALA Y, BANETH G, SOLANO-GALLEGO L. 2018. Does co-infection with vector-borne pathogens play a role in clinical canine leishmaniosis? Parasit Vectors. 11(1):135.
24. PRIOLO V, MARTÍNEZ-ORELLANA P, PENNISI MG, MASUCCI M, PRANDI D, IPPOLITO D, BRUNO F, CASTELLI G, SOLANO-GALLEGO L. 2019. Leishmania infantum-specific IFN-γ production in stimulated blood from cats living in areas where canine leishmaniosis is endemic. Parasit Vectors. 12(1):133.
25. ORDEIX L, MONTSERRAT-SANGRÀ S, MARTÍNEZ-ORELLANA P, BAXARIAS M, SOLANO-GALLEGO L. 2019. Toll-like receptors 2, 4 and 7, interferon-gamma and interleukin 10, and programmed death ligand 1 transcripts in skin from dogs of different clinical stages of leishmaniosis. Parasit Vectors. 12(1):575.
26. BURNHAM AC, ORDEIX L, ALCOVER MM, MARTÍNEZ-ORELLANA P, MONTSERRAT-SANGRÀ S, WILLEN L, SPITZOVA T, VOLF P, SOLANO-GALLEGO L.2020 Exploring the relationship between susceptibility to canine leishmaniosis and anti-Phlebotomus perniciosus saliva antibodies in Ibizan hounds and dogs of other breeds in Mallorca, Spain. Parasit Vectors. Apr 21;13(1):129.