Centre for Inflammation Research seminar

Friday 5th November 2010

Speaker:

• Professor Alirio J. Melendez, (MD, BScH, PhD) Chair of Immunopharmacology Institute of Translational Medicine Department of Molecular & Clinical Pharmacology MRC Centre for Drug Safety Science, University of Liverpool

Title:

• Novel signalling pathways in macrophages and mast cells: relevance to anaphylaxis, sepsis, and rheumatoid arthritis

Research interests and key findings:

His research interest is primarily to understand innate and adaptive immune responses. His research seeks to identify and characterise novel signalling molecules, critical for immune cell function/dysfunction and to translate finding, as validated novel therapeutic targets, for inflammatory diseases.

Recent findings highlighted in the press: dissection of the mechanisms by which ES-62; a protein secreted by a worm parasite, may modulate the immune response for the worm to survive and at the same time may protect the host from allergies: a logical explanation for parasite survival and the hygiene hypothesis (NATURE Medicine, November 2007, front cover of the issue). This breakthrough was highlighted on the front cover of this issue of the highly prestigious journal and by a news and views article. Other recent works on Anaphylatoxin and Resveratrol in Acute Inflammation, recently published in FASEB J (2009), have been highlighted as Editor's choice and cited in the British TV/press and international press, as a mechanistic understanding of the role of natural antioxidants in acute inflammation. Another recent article on IL-33 and Anaphylaxis published in P.N.A.S. (2009) has been highlighted in the British TV/press and international press, as a novel breakthrough in the fight against anaphylaxis. His latest research breakthroughs include: a new role of Mast cells in rheumatoid arthritis published in J. Immunol-Cutting Edge (2010), selected as an "Editor's choice" for the Nature Reviews series in Rheumatology; the role of SphK1 in regulating inflammation during sepsis recently published in the prestigious journal SCIENCE (2010), highlighted in the international press, including in an Pod-cast interview in Science, BBC news UK, BBC World news, Science News, and by several other international news agencies around the world.

Moreover, this work has been highlighted in Nature Reviews Immunology, Nature Drug Discovery, Science Signaling and in Science Translational Medicine.

If you would like to talk with the speaker please contact Mohini Gray: