Summary
Lydia's research career has been centred around understanding mucosal (intestine and lung) immune responses in both health and disease/infection. In her current role as a Teaching Fellow for the BSc Medical Biosciences (BMB) course, she is excited to share her love and passion for biomedical science and research with undergraduate students. She supports both the Lab Pod practical modules and the Immunology & Inflammation and Microbiome in Health & Disease Year 2 elective modules. Lydia is also an academic and personal tutor for BMB students and is the Careers and Year 2 to Year 3 Transition Lead for BMB.
Prior to joining the BMB team, Lydia did postdoctoral research in Professor Stella Knight's lab at Imperial College and in collaboration with Professor Simon Carding through the BBSRC-QIB Gut Microbes and Health programme. She examined the functions of dendritic cells and their interplay with the commensal microbiota, defining a key role for bacterial outer membrane vesicles in modulating intestinal immune responses. These findings contributed to identifying novel mechanisms underlying the immunopathology of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs)- Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis and colorectal cancers.
Prior to this, Lydia worked in the Respiratory Medicine Department in NHLI at Imperial College, examining the roles of both innate cytokines (type I interferons) and innate receptor pathways (TLRs, RLRs and DNGR1) in the immune response to respiratory viral infection with Professor Cecilia Johansson. She also explored the function of Foxp3 regulatory T cells in respiratory syncytial viral infection and disease with Professor Peter Openshaw.
Lydia obtained her DPhil in Pathology from the University of Oxford. She undertook a collaborative research project in Professor Fiona Powrie's lab at the University of Oxford and Dr. John O'Shea's lab at the National Institutes of Health (NIH, USA) studying the roles of the transcription factors STAT3 and STAT5 in intestinal immune regulation. She was awarded a Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) from the NIH in 2009 for this work. She completed her B.A. in Biology with honours at Colby College, Maine, USA, graduating Summa Cum Laude (equivalent to First with Distinction) and gaining membership in the Phi Beta Kappa honours society. She was also a member of the Division 1 Alpine Ski Team at Colby College, assisted with practical lab teaching for introductory Ecology and Biology courses, and was a member of the Student Women in Science (SWIS) club.
Publications
Journals
Noble A, Durant L, Dilke SM, et al., 2022, Altered Mucosal Immune-Microbiota Interactions in Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology, Vol:13
Noble A, Pring ET, Durant L, et al., 2022, Altered immunity to microbiota, B cell activation and depleted γδ/resident memory T cells in colorectal cancer, Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy, ISSN:0340-7004
Reddi D, Durant L, Bernardo D, et al., 2021, In vitro priming of human T cells by dendritic cells provides a screening tool for candidate vaccines for Burkholderia pseudomallei, Vaccines, Vol:9, ISSN:2076-393X, Pages:1-10
Durant L, Stentz R, Noble A, et al., 2020, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron-derived outer membrane vesicles promote regulatory dendritic cell responses in health but not in inflammatory bowel disease, Microbiome, Vol:8, ISSN:2049-2618
Conference
Dilke SM, Durant LR, Stentz R, et al., 2021, DIRECT MANIPULATION OF THE INTESTINAL MICROBIOME TO INFLUENCE POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES, OXFORD UNIV PRESS, ISSN:0007-1323