In December, Asja Puncuh and Alicia Galdon attended the British Society for Immunology (BSI) Annual Congress in Liverpool. This flagship event brought together over 1500 immunologists from around the world to enjoy talks, workshops and discussions. They heard about exciting developments in infectious disease, autoimmunity, cancer immunology, and how artificial intelligence is beginning to shape vaccine research.
The Congress provides a great platform for early‑career scientists to share their work. Both researchers had the chance to present our BTRU‑funded research during the poster sessions.
Alicia's poster focused on how inflammation (which commonly occurs after a stem cell transplant) changes the way acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) cells display the molecular “targets” that T cells recognise. Understanding these changes helps us design T‑cell therapies that can better identify and attack AML cells in the bone marrow.
Asja presented her work on a novel category of T‑cell targets on AML cells, involving a molecule called HLA‑E. You can think of HLA‑E as a flagpole that displays small protein “flags” to the immune system. Asja has identified HLA‑E‑bound flags that appear specifically on AML cells but not on healthy tissues. This opens-up the possibility of developing highly selective T‑cell therapies that kill cancer cells while sparing normal ones.
Overall, the BSI Congress was an inspiring experience. Alicia and Asja came away energised by the cutting-edge research happening across immunology, proud to share our own findings, and excited about how these advances could ultimately lead to better treatments for patients.