Email a Friend
Printer Friendly

New research team to tackle disease

March 15, 2004

A new Immunology and Infection Unit, which will research how disease occurs and how our immune systems respond, opens shortly in York.

The Unit is a joint venture of the Department of Biology at York and the Hull York Medical School (HYMS). Professor Paul Kaye, who joins the University of York from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, will direct the Unit.

"The new research unit will help us understand why some microbes cause disease and how we might prevent them from doing so," said Professor Kaye. "This is a major challenge that requires immunologists and microbiologists to work closely together."

Professor Kaye's research concentrates on how cells known as 'dendritic cells' warn our immune system about incoming microbes, and how over-zealous immune responses can themselves cause disease. Much of his work focuses on a chronic parasitic infection called Leishmaniasis.

The Unit will be strengthened by the appointment of four further research group leaders. Key appointments include those of Professor Deborah Smith, currently Professor of Molecular Parasitology at Imperial College London, and senior lecturer Dr Marjan van der Woude, a bacterial molecular geneticist from the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Smith's research uses information from genome sequencing to understand how parasites can invade and survive in our cells. The aim of the research is to develop new drugs and vaccines for human use.

Research in the Unit will be strongly enhanced by interaction with existing biomedical research groups in one of Britain's largest and most successful Biology departments. Biomedical research at York includes teams working on cancer, parasitology, biochemistry and structural biology. The Department also hosts a state-of-the-art Technology Centre for biomedical research. "The excellent resources of the new Technology Centre were a strong factor in my decision to relocate to York," said Professor Smith.

Researchers will also establish strong links with researchers and clinicians in HYMS and the regional NHS, and provide teaching to medical students in HYMS.

"We are excited by the potential of the Immunology and Infection Unit," said Professor Alastair Fitter, Head of the Department of Biology. "Their work will have far-reaching consequences in the UK and in developing countries, where parasitic diseases such as Leishmaniasis
cause thousands of deaths every year. This is a strong boost to
medical research and education in York."

York, University of

RSS Feeds

New research team to tackle disease

Science Research Departments