Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

We would like to congratulate Dr Audrey Gérard on her three-year Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) New Investigator Award. The award will allow Audrey to examine how the behaviour of killer T cells is coordinated to optimise immunity against pathogens and tumour growth.

Dr Audrey Gérard in her lab at the Kennedy Institute.

Killer CD8 T cells attack infected or mutated cells to protect against pathogens and tumour growth. There are many different CD8 T cell clones in the body – only a fraction of these recognise the same target and the amount of protection offered by each clone varies.

Audrey's group uses state-of-the-art imaging approaches to understand how CD8 T cell clones talk to each other during an immune response. Their work will determine how different clones coordinate their activity to rapidly clear infection and establish long-term immunity, while limiting damage to the body's own tissues. This information may guide the development of better vaccines, such as against influenza infection.

"This award is an amazing opportunity for me to tackle this project, which aims to study how CD8 T cells organise themselves as an ecosystem during healthy responses. I believe it will give a different perspective on our understanding of immune response coordination and regulation", said Dr Gérard.

Director of Research at the Kennedy Institute, Professor Michael Dustin, said: "This award recognises Audrey's fundamental work in immunobiology, laying the foundation for future cures."

Audrey joined the Kennedy Institute in 2016 as a Senior Research Fellow funded by the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research.

Funding

BBSRC logo

 

 

 

Similar stories

Furniss Group paper wins journal award

Editors at the Journal of Hand Surgery have recognised the Furniss Group with an award for the best paper published in the Journal in 2022. The Editor’s Award recognises research with scientific importance, outstanding study stringency, and a high academic standard.

NIHR Fellowships awarded to NDORMS researchers

Congratulations to Eileen Morrow and Mae Chester-Jones who have received NIHR Doctoral Fellowships

ORUK Early Career Research Fellowship awarded to NDORMS researcher

Congratulations to Jack Tu who has been awarded an Orthopaedic Research UK Early Career Research Fellowship to explore the cause of knee pain after total knee replacement.

OCTRU - delivering answers to important clinical questions

The Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit (OCTRU) has received NIHR benchmarking results and offers excellent value for money according to the report

Unhelpful thoughts about fracture symptoms hinder recovery

The importance of mindsets and feelings about fracture symptoms have been shown to be a key factor in recovery of musculoskeletal conditions.

Fat tissues can play a protective role against inflammation in the intestine

A new study in The EMBO Journal has revealed how fat tissues might provide a protective role in intestinal inflammation opening new lines of research into the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.