The lecture is free to attend and open to all, however registration is required in advance via our external Eventbrite page
A pre-lecture reception will held in the Senior Common Room from 16:45
This event is being live-streamed via the Imperial YouTube channel.
Meet our new professors
Graham Taylor, Professor of Human Retrovirology at Imperial College London
Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) slips under the radar of most healthcare workers, especially compared to its distant relative – HIV. With 10 million infections globally and twenty thousand carrying HTLV-1 in the UK alone this infection is neglected even amongst neglected diseases. Whilst infection does not cause symptoms in the majority, 1 in 10 are at risk of either aggressive forms of white blood cell cancers or inflammation in many tissues. Inflammation of the spinal cord causes decades of disability. Parallel research into HIV and HTLV provides useful insights into both infections.
In his lecture Professor Taylor will chart the successes of the largest HTLV research centre in Europe, here at Imperial. At St. Mary’s his team have, over the last 22 years, cared for those affected by HTLV, developed tests to monitor infection and explored treatments old and new.
The virtual elimination of HIV mother-to-child transmission and normalisation of the management of pregnancy for HIV infected mothers in the UK has been achieved with little fanfare. Professor Taylor will show how clinical research at Imperial has contributed to our knowledge on prevention of transmission, often leading the global debate on safety and effectiveness of anti-HIV therapy in pregnancy.
About the speaker
Graham P Taylor is Professor of Human Retrovirology at Imperial College London and an Honorary Consultant and Lead Clinician within the National Centre for Human Retrovirology at St. Mary’s Hospital London
He qualified MB ChB from the University of Birmingham Medical School, England and trained in General Internal Medicine in the West Midlands and South Wales before being appointment as Chief Medical Officer (Medicine) for the Solomon Islands. In 1992 he joined the Section of Infectious Diseases, Imperial College Faculty of Medicine (formerly St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School) and was awarded DSc in 2012 before being appointed Professor of Human Retrovirology in 2013