Receptor ligand interactions in immunity to pathogens and tumours

Our research is focused on two main areas, understanding the roles of natural killer (NK) cells in response to virus infections, and study of NK cell function in patients suffering primary immunodeficiencies (whose major clinical problems are virus infections). We are also interested in the mechanisms by which viral pathogens try to evade NK cell immune surveillance. In these studies, we aim to provide new tools to aid in the diagnosis and therapy of these diseases as well as to generate new insights into the biology and function of the immune system that will be relevant to the fields of vaccination, immune responses to cancer and autoimmunity.