Summary
Dr Nesrina Imami, Reader in Immunology, Honorary Consultant, and Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, qualified in medicine, microbiology and immunology. She further specialised in viral immunology, in particular HIV-1, and focused on cell mediated immunity and immunotherapeutic development.
She has published primarily on the immunology of T cells and their responses to viral infection, was awarded a University of London PhD in 1992 and after a subsequent period of postdoctoral work was awarded a Wellcome Trust Fellowship. She embarked on a long-term detailed programme of research to assess HIV-1-specific T-cell immune responses, mechanisms of non-responsiveness/anergy and to evaluate the effects of drugs, cytokines and other immunomodulators such as vaccines on these responses. The Wellcome Trust Fellowship enabled her to establish her research group at the forefront of international research into the immunopathogenesis of HIV-1 infection and immune reconstitution in HIV-1 disease, and to continue her work in an area that integrates basic biological science with clinical science, with direct application to human health. She has completed and set up novel immunotherapy and drug clinical trials for which she has been awarded the prestigious MRC Experimental Medicine Award.
She has successfully supervised over twenty PhD students and has been, since 2012, departmental Deputy Director of Postgraduate Studies (Research).
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Westrop SJ, Cocker ATH, Boasso A, et al., 2017, Enrichment of HLA types and single-nucleotide polymorphism associated with non-progression in a strictly defined cohort of HIV-1 controllers, Frontiers in Immunology, Vol:8, ISSN:1664-3224
Mletzko S, Pinato DJ, Robey RC, et al., 2017, Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression influences the immune-tolerogenic microenvironment in antiretroviral therapy-refractory Kaposi's sarcoma: A pilot study., Oncoimmunology, Vol:6, ISSN:2162-4011
Herasimtschuk A, Downey J, Nelson M, et al., 2014, Therapeutic immunisation plus cytokine and hormone therapy improves CD4 T-cell counts, restores anti-HIV-1 responses and reduces immune activation in treated chronic HIV-1 infection, Vaccine, Vol:32, ISSN:0264-410X, Pages:7005-7013
Conference
Macharia G, Staller E, Yue L, et al., Infection With Multiple Transmitted/Founder (TF) HIV-1 Viruses Impacts Peak VL and HIV-1 Pathogenesis, HIV Research for Prevention 2018: AIDS Vaccine, Microbicide and ARV-based Prevention Science (HIVR4P)