Infection and Immunity

This theme brings together researchers to study how infection and inflammation begins, progresses and resolves, in health and disease.

A key focus is how the body responds to both infections and non-infectious triggers, especially through the innate immune system. This includes structural cells like those lining the skin and organs (epithelial cells and fibroblasts), immune cells already present in tissues (macrophages and dendritic cells), and cells that are called in to help during inflammation (neutrophils and monocytes). 

We also study the adaptive immune system, which involves more targeted responses through T cells and B cells. We look at how these different types of cells interact, and how processes like metabolism, chemical signaling, and cell death help control inflammation.

Live confocal imaging reveals immune cells (green) with their nuclei labelled (magenta) clustered at a wound made to a Drosophila embryo.
Live confocal imaging reveals immune cells (green) with their nuclei labelled (magenta) clustered at a wound made to a Drosophila embryo (credit: Prof Will Wood)

Our research also explores how the communities of bacteria that live at body surfaces such as on our skin, in our airways, and in our gut (known as the microbiota) affect infections and inflammatory diseases. We also examine how the immune system clears infections with minimal inflammation in healthy individuals, and how ageing or disease can disrupt this balance. 

We use advanced developmental and infection models - including zebrafish, fruit flies (Drosophila), unique mouse models, and lab-grown human tissue models - to allow precise interrogation of specific populations of immune cells. These models help us understand how the immune system develops and works across the lifespan, and how it contributes to both infectious and non-infectious inflammatory diseases, uncover shared immune mechanisms and identify new treatment targets.

Key areas of focus

  • Short-term (acute) inflammation
  • How inflammation starts and stops
  • Infections and how we model them in the lab
  • The role of development in infection and immunity
  • Structural, resident and recruited innate and adaptive immune cells contributing to inflammation and their interactions in the tissue
  • Use of zebrafish, Drosophila, and mouse models to study development
  • Advanced human cell models grown in the lab
  • The role of the microbiome (bacterial communities)
  • How pathogens (disease-causing microbes) trigger infections
  • Role of cell death 

Theme Leads: Thamarai Schneiders and Jurgen Schwarze

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