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Immunology and Infection

We use state of the art techniques to interrogate the intricacies of our body’s response to pathogens, cancer and non-communicable diseases. We have particular strengths in T cell signaling, the innate immune system and therapeutic antibody development – particularly in oncology and against pathogens. We have forged strong links with clinical medicine to accelerate translation of laboratory studies into therapeutic strategies.

The MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, part of the MRC WIMM, acts as a hub for our immunology, oncology and infection research and integrates genetics, vaccinology and structural biology to drive translational research in a range of diseases. The Wolfson Imaging Centre enables super-resolution imaging of the immune system at work and allows us to tease apart mechanisms of disease.

Our research is embedded within the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre’s Gastroenterology and Mucosal Immunity Theme and Multi-Modal Cancer Therapies Theme. We also play a central role in ‘Oxford Immunology’ and in the 'Immuno-Oncology Working Group', two cross cutting communities of Immunologists in Oxford.

Groups within this theme

The Akbar Lab is interested in defining the therapeutic and diagnostic potential of extracellular vesicles for immunomodulation and precision medicine in cardiovascular, metabolic, and inflammatory diseases.

Akbar Group: Extracellular Vesicles in Cardiovascular, Inflammatory and Metabolic Disease

Our goals are to develop therapeutics targeting the chemokine network in inflammatory diseases affecting the heart, blood vessels and other organ systems.

Bhattacharya Group: Developing novel therapeutics for inflammatory diseases

Our group is interested in developing novel immunotherapeutic approaches for leukaemia. Clinical approaches currently used include allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors. While each of these approaches can be successful, they also fail in many patients as a result of tumour adaptations or diminished function of immune cells. Enhanced immunity can also lead to immune-related adverse events due to on- or off-target effects. We are exploring the mechanisms that underpin these failures and using this information to devise new strategies that can be translated into early phase clinical trials.

Chakraverty Group: Haematopoietic Transplantation and Immunotherapy

This translational science laboratory aims to understand the functionally important heterogeneity in human cardiovascular disease to allow stratification of pathology and enable targeted therapies.

Choudhury Group: Understanding Inflammatory processes in Atherosclerosis and Acute Myocardial Infarction

We are interested in how lymphocytes decide to mount immune responses against, for example, tumours. This involves trying to understanding how leukocyte receptors, such as the T-cell receptor and immune checkpoints, are triggered.

Davis Group: T-cell Biology

We are investigating how iron and anaemia influence immunity and infectious diseases. Our research inspires treatments that control iron physiology to benefit the host at the expense of pathogens.

Drakesmith Group: Iron and Immunity

The Oxford MNM group focuses on developing in vitro models for neurological disease. Employing micro-fabrication techniques to define channels and features in cell culture devices at the scale of the cell and below, opens up the opportunity to shape cellular microenvironments to better reflect those found in the body. Our work uses these techniques and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technologies to create human cell culture models of the brain with the aim of enabling new possibilities to study neurovascular disease and improve drug discovery.

Holloway Group: Microfluidic Neurological Models (MNM)

We focus on the mechanisms controlling the migration of leucocytes and tumour cells via lymph in health and disease.

Jackson Group: Lymphatic Trafficking Research Group

We would like to understand the functional and molecular mechanisms of the immune system in various immunologically important conditions such as cancer, infection, autoimmune disease as well as ageing. We have a special interest in computational cancer immunotherapy such as antigen presentation, neo-antigen identification and T cell recognition of neo-antigens as well as interrogating the immune response to personalized vaccines from neo-antigens.

Koohy Group: Machine Learning and Integrative Approaches in Immunology

Our group investigates how MR techniques can be used to improve the care of patients with liver disease. The scope of our work is broad and ranges from evaluation of mature MR techniques in large multicentre studies, to proof-of-concept studies using new methods, or new clinical applications of existing technologies.

Pavlides Group: Quantitative MR and liver disease

We work on circadian rhythms, and nuclear receptors applied to both inflammation and energy metabolism. Our models range from cells to human populations.

Ray Group

Rehwinkel Group: Nucleic Acid Sensing

Rehwinkel Group: Nucleic Acid Sensing

We define how the immune system functions in the intestine to promote health. We uncover the immune pathogenesis of intestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease to develop better ways to treat these disorders.

Simmons Group: Intestinal Immunity in Health and Disease

The aim of the group is to understand, at the molecular and cellular level, the role of human cutaneous immune responses in mechanisms of disease, treatment and vaccination. We have a particular focus on T cells which recognise inflammatory lipids presented by CD1a. As well as contributing to an understanding of disease pathogenesis, we aim to translate our findings to changes in clinical practice.

Skin Immunology Group

Townsend Group: Molecular Immunology

Townsend Group: Molecular Immunology

Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) support blood cell production throughout life and are also used clinically in cell and gene therapies. We are studying the biology of this important stem cell population with the aim of developing new HSC-based therapies.

Wilkinson Group: Blood Stem Cell Expansion and Fitness

Oxford Immunology Group

The Oxford Immunology Group is a regional group of the British Society for Immunology.

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