Powrie Group | Mucosal Immunology

The Powrie lab employs basic and translational science to study host-microbe crosstalk in health and disease, focussing on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colorectal cancer (CRC) and inflammatory arthritis. Research spans observational and functional analysis of a broad range of cell types including bacteria, fibroblasts, T cells and neutrophils.

Overview

Inflammatory diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CRC), and inflammatory arthritis are complex diseases whose aetilogies are not fully understood. The aim of the lab is to disentangle the multiple interacting factors that drive inflammatory diseases including how immune cells interact with each other, with structural cell compartments, and the microbiome. The group uses multiple techniques that span immunology, functional genomics and microbiology to achieve a holistic view of mucosal immunity and how it breaks down in disease.

To succeed in this multidisciplinary research, we work closely with researchers in the Translational Gastroenterology Unit (TGU), Oxford Centre for Microbiome Studies (OCMS) and Cancer Centre.

Techniques

Multi-colour flow cytometry (Cytek Aurora)
Primary cell culture and modified cell lines
Organoid and mucosoid cultures
Anaerobic and aerobic bacterial cultures
Bulk and single cell gene expression profiling
16S amplicon sequencing, metagenomics and metatranscriptomics
Intravital imaging
BugFISH
Immunofluorescence (CellDive)
RNA-scope
Halo digital pathology analysis
Phosphoproteomics
Multiplex cytokine arrays

Our team

Claire Pearson

Senior Gnotobiology Scientist
Nicholas Ilott

Senior researcher and lead bioinformatician for the Oxford Centre for Microbiome Studies
Declan Pang

MB DPhil student
Alice Bertocchi

Postdoctoral Researcher
Rebecca Jeffery

Postdoctoral Researcher
Juan Arroyo

Laboratory technician in inflammation and cancer
Amit Halkhoree

DPhil student
Xinyue Li

Postdoctoral Researcher
Ffion Hammond

Postdoctoral Researcher in Immunity and Antimicrobial Resistance
Dehui Chang

Postdoctoral Researcher in Immune Biochemistry
Henry Taylor

DPhil student
Rachel Anscombe

DPhil student
India Brough

Postdoctoral researcher
Emma Layton

Postdoctoral Researcher
Sumaiya Hoque

Laboratory Technician
Katherine Coldwell

Daphne Jackson Trust Fellow
Gemma Laws

Postdoctoral Researcher in Intestinal Immune Responses

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Fiona Powrie FRS

Professor of Musculoskeletal Sciences and Director of the Kennedy Institute

Open Studentships

Kennedy Studentship investigating microbiome metabolites as immune checkpoints. Visit this link for more information.

CRUK studentship exploring the role of Oncostatin M in the stromal-epithelial cross-talk during inflammatory bowel disease and tumourigenesis. Visit this link for more information.