Thomas Tapmeier

I have always been fascinated by the way the human body is able to defend itself against harm and disease and therefore went to study Humanbiologie at the Philipps-Universitaet Marburg in my native country, Germany, with a focus on immunology. After a brief spell as a carer for an ill family member, I worked at the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt am Main in stem cell research before winning a scholarship to take up PhD studies in transplantation immunology at the MRC Centre for Transplantation, at King's College London in the UK. We showed that a class of immune cells, the CD4⁺ T cells, are important in the development of renal fibrosis within the context of chronic kidney disease. Similar mechanisms are thought to be at play in cancer, and I went to Oxford next to study immune cells in cancer and metastasis, here focusing on macrophages which work in concert with T cells. While a lot is known in this area, the role of immune cells in endometriosis is far less well described, and I hope to be able to bring my experience to bear as we in the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and the EndoCaRe Centre, endeavour to understand this terrible condition, and find new ways of treatment.