Investigating cellular immune responses and mechanisms of immune induction. Mycobacterium bovis and M. avium paratuberculosis are mycobacterial pathogens which cause economically important diseases in cattle: bovine tuberculosis (TB) and Johne’s disease, for which there are currently no effective vaccines. By understanding the immune mechanisms by which immunity is induced, or by which pathogenesis and disease processes occur, we can identify aspects that are important for targeted vaccine development, new or improved diagnostic tests or other intervention strategies. In addition, the diseases we work on have important parallels in human medicine and our work fits well within the One Health agenda. We also study TB in companion animals (cats and dogs). The development of new immunological tools, reagents and assays, and validation across species is also an important area of our research. This will provide the capacity to determine immunological correlates of protection against strategically important diseases across a range of species. This in turn will facilitate vaccine design and the development of diagnostic tests. The group comprises several overlapping teams, and involves local, national and international collaborations. Further information can be found for each individual project in the Current Projects page. Image This article was published on 2024-09-02
