About us

Our mission

The immune system is essential for tissue homeostasis and host defence against pathogens. Immune dysregulation underlies the aetiopathogenesis of many common diseases, including systemic autoimmunity, immunodeficiency, atherosclerosis and a significant fraction of cancers. Gaining a better understanding of how the immune system contributes to the pathogenesis of these diseases is required for the development of more targeted therapies.

The aim of the Immuno-Pathology Network, based with the Department of Immunology and Inflammation, is to ensure effective communication between basic research scientists (biology, chemistry, physics, bioengineering), clinicians, public health experts and environmental scientists with an interest in immune-pathology across and within Faculties at Imperial College London. The Network will provide the framework to foster pipelines of research from basic to clinical and translational.

Our members are working to address several key global challenges in immunopathology-related research. Together, we are seeking to gain an understanding of:

How the microbiota shapes the developing innate/adaptive immune system and modulates the immuno-inflammatory reaction in health and disease (e.g. cancer, obesity and chronic inflammatory diseases).
The mechanisms underpinning the immunosuppressive activity of the tumour microenvironment (in particular, CD8+ T cell exclusion from tumours) to overcome primary and secondary resistance to anticancer immunotherapies.
The mechanisms by which inflammation controls metabolism and stemness to drive epithelial-mesenchymal transition, cell migration and metastasis in cancer.
How inflammation alters the natural evolution the innate and adaptive immune system during ageing
The immunosuppressive mechanisms that prevent rejection of the foetus during pregnancy as a way to develop novel therapeutic routes to treat transplant rejection and autoimmune/inflammatory diseases
The mechanisms by which chronic infection persists in the host by evading and/or suppressing the immuno-inflammatory response
The precise contributions of different cell types (eg. stromal cells, mono-myeloid cells, dendritic cells, T cells etc.) to the induction and downregulation of immune/inflammatory responses and how these mechanisms are subverted in cancer and chronic autoimmune/inflammatory diseases.

Professor Guido Franzoso

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Professor Guido Franzoso Network Leader; Centre Director, Chair in Inflammation & Signal Transduction
Send email+44 (0)20 3313 8421

Location

10N8, Commonwealth Building, Hammersmith Campus

Bio

Guido Franzoso is Professor and Chair of Signal Transduction and Inflammation and holds an Honorary position at Imperial College NHS Trust. His research interest is the regulation and function of NF-κB transcription factors.
Dr Nadia Guerra

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Dr Nadia Guerra Senior Lecturer
Send email+44 (0)20 7594 5663

Location

604, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, South Kensington Campus

Bio

Dr Guerra's research aims to elucidate the physiologic relevance of Natural Killer cell Receptors (NK-R) in the development of Immunopathologies and Cancer using preclinical models of disease.
Dr James Harker

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Dr James Harker Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Science
Send email+44 (0)20 7594 3171

Location

360, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, South Kensington Campus

Bio

Dr Harker's current research focuses on studying the development of humoral immunity in response to respiratory viral infections and the effects of age on this process.
Dr David Owen

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Dr David Owen Clinical Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacology
Send email+44 (0)20 3313 6195

Location

G20A, ICTEM building, Hammersmith Campus

Bio

Dr Owen's research investigates the role of microglia in brain disease and identifying drugs to modulate their responses.
Dr Margarita Dominguez-Villar

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Dr Margarita Dominguez-Villar Senior Lecturer
Send email+44 (0)20 7594 3735

Location

117, Wright Fleming Wing, St Mary's Campus
Dr Teresa Thurston

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Dr Teresa Thurston Advanced Research Fellow
Send email+44 (0)20 7594 3072

Location

2.40, Flowers Building, South Kensington Campus

Bio

Dr Thurston's research seeks to understand what determines the fate of intracellular bacteria, a complex interaction mediated by both the host and the pathogen.
Dr Patricia Barral

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Dr Patricia Barral Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute
Send email+44 (0)20 3796 3358

Location

The Francis Crick Institute

Bio

Dr Barral's work aims to uncover how, where and when cells of the immune system recognise and respond to lipids, what the outcomes of these responses are, and what the consequences are for human health when these processes go wrong.
Dr Emma Davenport

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Dr Emma Davenport Group Leader
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Location

Wellcome Sanger Institute

Bio

Dr Davenport's research focuses on integrating functional genomics and clinical data in order to understand how genetics contributes to the patient-to-patient heterogeneity in treatment response.
Professor Iain McNeish

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Professor Iain McNeish Chair in Oncology
Send email+44 (0)20 7594 2185

Location

G036m Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Hammersmith Campus

Bio

Iain McNeish is Professor of Oncology and Head of the Division of Cancer within the Department of Surgery and Cancer. He is also the Director of the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre and Cancer theme lead in the Imperial NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC).
Professor Alan Melcher

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Professor Alan Melcher Team Leader
Send email+44 (0)20 7153 5205

Location

The Institute of Cancer Research

Bio

Professor Melcher is the Lead of the Centre for Translational Immunotherapy, a virtual Centre bringing together staff and students from the ICR and its partner hospital, the Royal Marsden, that aims to increase communication between clinicians and scientists with an interest in translational immunotherapy.
Dr Nick Powell

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Dr Nick Powell Clinical Reader in Gastroenterology
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Location

Norfolk Place, St Mary's Campus

Bio

Dr Powell is a Clinical Reader and consultant in Gastroenterology. His key clinical and research interests focus on intestinal inflammation in the context of inflammatory bowel diseases (such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease), but also in gut inflammation resulting from certain treatments, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Dr Reiko J. Tanaka

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Dr Reiko J. Tanaka Reader in Computational Systems Biology & Medicine
Send email+44 (0)20 7594 6374

Location

RSM 3.10, Royal School of Mines, South Kensington Campus

Bio

Dr Tanaka's research aims to search for fundamental rules and mechanisms of biological control from the viewpoint of control, and to make a decisive contribution to systems medicine and biology.