Department of Immunology seminar series: Infection-Induced Tertiary Germinal Centres, 7 March

Presented by Dr Michelle Linterman,
Group Leader, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK

Tuesday 7 March, 11am-12pm, Lecture Theatre, Level 5, Alfred Centre

Michelle Linterman is a group leader at Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK. Her principle research focus is on how different cell types collaborate in the
germinal centre to generate a robust antibody response following vaccination.

Michelle received her PhD in Immunology from the Australian National University in Canberra, where she investigated a novel mechanism of immunological tolerance with Prof. Carola Vinuesa. Michelle did a post-doc with Prof. Ken Smith at the University of Cambridge, where she described a population of regulatory T cells within the germinal centre.

Germinal centre-like structures can form in nonlymphoid tissues following infection, but the requirements for their formation and function are not well characterized; in particular how peripheral tissues are remodeled by infection to facilitate the recruitment of lymphocytes and establish de novo a stromal network. This seminar will focus on how influenza-induced lung germinal centres are formed, and whether these structures follow the same rules as their counterparts in secondary lymphoid tissues.