Dr. Leonie Bettin is a veterinarian and immunologist specializing in porcine immunology, pigs as biomedical models, and vaccine development. She received her Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover in Germany and her PhD in Veterinary Microbiology from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada. Her doctoral research focused on the innate immune functions of porcine γδ (gamma-delta) T cells, a highly abundant but poorly characterized immune cell population in large animal models. She then completed postdoctoral research at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna in Austria, where she focused on Chlamydia trachomatis vaccine development in the pig, cell-mediated immune responses, and tool development for veterinary immunology. In 2026, Dr. Bettin joined VIDO as a Principal Scientist, where she is establishing a research program focused on T cell biology and mucosal immunology.
Research Interests:
- Identification and characterization of tissue-resident memory T cells in pigs
- Biology and function of porcine γδ T cells
- Development of immunological assays and tools for veterinary research
- Vaccine development and evaluation of cell-mediated immunity in the pig model