Dr Vanessa Sancho-Shimizu

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Disease

Senior Lecturer in Paediatric Infectious Diseases

Contact

Location

309Norfolk PlaceSt Mary's Campus

Summary

Dr Vanessa Sancho-Shimizu is a research fellow in the section of paediatrics, division of infectious diseases. She is currently working on understanding the Mendelian predisposition to rare childhood infections specifically: identifying genes underlying childhood (1) herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE), (2) severe viral infections, and (3) invasive meningococcal disease (IMD).

Vanessa Sancho-Shimizu obtained her BSc degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her PhD project, based in the Centre for the study of Host Resistance to Infectious Disease, focused on investigating the genetics underlying host resistance to Salmonella infection in wild-derived mice. She moved to Paris, France following her PhD, to start her postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Disease in the Necker Enfants Malades Hospital at Universite Paris Descartes, developping an expertise in investigating Mendelian predisposition to childhood herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE), and TLR3-antiviral IFN pathways. This led to the identification of human TRIF deficiency as novel genetic aetiology of HSE. She came to Imperial College in 2012 as a Marie Curie research fellow working with Prof M Levin in the section of Paediatrics, continuing her work on the genetic predisposition of childhood HSE in collaboration with her previous lab lead by Prof JL Casanova, but has also extended the search of Mendelian defects to other clinical disease phenotypes including severe childhood viral infections and invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). She has started her own group in 2014 with a career development award from the Medical Research Foundation, within the sections of Virology and Paediatrics.

Vanessa Sancho-Shimizu has been a Marie Cuire fellow from 2008-2010 and 2012-2014. She is currently funded by the Medical Research Foundation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKTFVRNhdzg

Publications

Journals

Wickenhagen A, Sugrue E, Lytras S, et al.Wickenhagen A, Sugrue E, Lytras S, Kuchi S, Noerenberg M, Turnbull ML, Loney C, Herder V, Allan J, Jarmson I, Cameron-Ruiz N, Varjak M, Pinto RM, Lee JY, Iselin L, Palmalux N, Stewart DG, Swingler S, Greenwood EJD, Crozier TWM, Gu Q, Davies EL, Clohisey S, Wang B, Maranhao Costa FT, Santana MF, de Lima Ferreira LC, Murphy L, Fawkes A, Meynert A, Grimes G, Filho JLDS, Marti M, Hughes J, Stanton RJ, Wang ECY, Ho A, Davis I, Jarrett RF, Castello A, Robertson DL, Semple MG, Openshaw PJM, Palmarini M, Lehner PJ, Baillie JK, Rihn SJ, Wilson SJ close, 2021, A prenylated dsRNA sensor protects against severe COVID-19, Science, Vol:374, ISSN:0036-8075, Pages:1-18

Sabli IKD, Sancho-Shimizu V, 2021, Inborn errors of autophagy and infectious diseases, Current Opinion in Immunology, Vol:72, ISSN:0952-7915, Pages:272-276

Taft J, Markson M, Legarda D, et al.Taft J, Markson M, Legarda D, Patel R, Chan M, Malle L, Richardson A, Gruber C, Martin-Fernandez M, Mancini GMS, van Laar JAM, van Pelt P, Buta S, Wokke BHA, Sabli IKD, Sancho-Shimizu V, Chavan PP, Schnappauf O, Khubchandani R, Cuceoglu MK, Ozen S, Kastner DL, Ting AT, Aksentijevich I, Hollink IHIM, Bogunovic D close, 2021, Human TBK1 deficiency leads to autoinflammation driven by TNF-induced cell death, Cell, Vol:184, ISSN:0092-8674, Pages:4447-+

Drake TM, Riad AM, Fairfield CJ, et al.Drake TM, Riad AM, Fairfield CJ, Egan C, Knight SR, Pius R, Hardwick HE, Norman L, Shaw CA, McLean KA, Thompson AAR, Ho A, Swann OV, Sullivan M, Soares F, Holden KA, Merson L, Plotkin D, Sigfrid L, de Silva TI, Girvan M, Jackson C, Russell CD, Dunning J, Solomon T, Carson G, Olliaro P, Nguyen-Van-Tam JS, Turtle L, Docherty AB, Openshaw PJ, Baillie JK, Harrison EM, Semple MG, ISARIC4C investigators close, 2021, Characterisation of in-hospital complications associated with COVID-19 using the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK: a prospective, multicentre cohort study, The Lancet, Vol:398, ISSN:0140-6736, Pages:223-237

COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative, 2021, Mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19, Nature, Vol:600, ISSN:0028-0836, Pages:472-477

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