Dr Valentina Pucino is a Clinical Research Fellow at the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, Department of Rheumatology, University of Birmingham (UK). During her clinical and scientific training in Clinical Immunology at the University Federico II of Naples (Italy), she explored the mechanisms linking the breach of immune tolerance and cell metabolism in autoimmunity. She joined the William Harvey Research Institute (WHRI) at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) where she obtained her PhD supported by the Versus Arthritis - Clinical Research Fellowship working on the role of lactate, a metabolic intermediate, in the regulation of immune responses in health and disease. In 2019 she joined the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham to investigate the immunometabolic pathways regulating autoimmune responses in rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome.

Her research focuses at assessing the role of immunometabolism in the pathogenesis of immune mediated inflammatory disorders especially autoimmune rheumatic disorders for the identification of new biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets.