Genetic and functional mechanisms of susceptibility to infection

We are searching for genes in the human genome that carry sequence variants, which are involved in resistance to infection and predispose to infectious diseases. Discovery of such genes can open new biological pathways and suggest new targets for intervention. We use methods of human genetics, including genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and exome sequencing, in vitro models of infection and methods of molecular biology to understand underlying biological mechanisms protecting from infection. [Read More…]

Nejentsev S, Walker N, Riches D, Egholm M, Todd JA: Rare Variants of IFIH1, a Gene Implicated in Antiviral Responses, Protect Against Type 1 Diabetes Science 324: 387-9, 2009   

Nejentsev S, Howson JMM, Walker NM, Szeszko JS, Field SF, Stevens HE, Reynolds P, Hardy M, King E, Masters J, Hulme J, Maier LMM, Smyth D, Bailey R, Cooper JD, Ribas G, Campbell RD, Clayton DG, Todd JA & The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium: Localisation of type 1 diabetes susceptibility to the MHC class I genes HLA-B and HLA-A. Nature 450:887-892, 2007

Curtis J, Kopanitsa L, Stebbings E, Speirs A,  Ignatyeva O, Balabanova Y, Nikolayevskyy V, Hoffner S, Horstmann R, Drobniewski F, Nejentsev S: Association analysis of the LTA4H gene polymorphisms and pulmonary tuberculosis in 9,115 subjects. Tuberculosis 91: 22-5, 2011

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