Infection and immunity

Organisms defend themselves against infections through innate and adaptive immune responses. In the Research School of Biology we investigate important pathogens (Shigella, poxviruses and herpesviruses) and how they are recognised by the immune system. We investigate how cells of the immune system develop and how the immune system can be used to fight infectious agents and cancer cells. These approaches are used to generate new vaccines and to develop cancer therapies.

Project Groups
A chytrid fungus nanobody toolkit and genetic transformation approaches Tham Group - Understanding chytrid infection biology
A yeast surface display nanobody factory Brock Group - Membrane Structural & Synthetic Biology
Caenorhabditis elegans as a potential animal model to study host-pathogen interactions Verma Group - Bacterial and bacteriophage genetics, and vaccine development
Chromosome condensation and T cell development Fahrer Group - Immunology
Development of a simple, inexpensive therapeutic cancer vaccine Fahrer Group - Immunology
Functional characterisation of novel autotransporter proteins Leyton Group - Assembly, function, and applications of nanoscale bacterial surface structures
Laboratory overview Rathjen Group - Plant immunity
Lipid Regulation of Ion Channels Corry Group - Transport proteins and computational biophysics
Molecular mechanisms of innate immunity Corry Group - Transport proteins and computational biophysics
Protein function in plant immunity Rathjen Group - Plant immunity
Redesign and engineering of the autotransporter β-barrel domain Leyton Group - Assembly, function, and applications of nanoscale bacterial surface structures
Serotype-converting bacteriophages and O-antigen modification in Shigella flexneri Verma Group - Bacterial and bacteriophage genetics, and vaccine development
Shigella virulence and vaccine development Verma Group - Bacterial and bacteriophage genetics, and vaccine development
Student research projects in tumour immunology and liposome targeting Altin Group - Tumour immunology and liposome targeting group
To what degree does autotransporter folding inside the bacterial cell resemble autotransporter folding in bulk solution? Leyton Group - Assembly, function, and applications of nanoscale bacterial surface structures
Transport mechanisms and drug resistance in malaria transporters Corry Group - Transport proteins and computational biophysics
Understanding how gram-negative bacteria respond to oxidative stress Furlong Group - Bacterial Structural Defence
Understanding the pathogenesis of the urinary tract pathogen Proteus mirabilis Furlong Group - Bacterial Structural Defence

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