Immunology

Our PhD/MPhil Immunology programme enables you to undertake a research project that will improve understanding of Immunology.

Appropriate control of the immune system is essential for a number of reasons. In the context of infectious disease and cancer, it is important to generate immune responses to counter these threats.

Excessive immune responses against infectious agents, however, can themselves be a cause of pathology. Other causes of immune mediated pathology are immune responses against self, which lead to autoimmunity, or against harmless antigens, which lead to allergy or hypersensitivity.

It is therefore important to understand how the immune system is regulated. A multitude of different cells of the innate and adaptive immune system act together to co-ordinate immune responses.

Understanding the interactions of these elements will not only help in the development of approaches to manipulate the immune system to induce the appropriate responses against infectious agents and tumours, but also to prevent inappropriate responses against self and harmless chemicals.