How mycobacterial phenolic glycolipids subvert host macrophages to cause disease: the general case and a special case, 20 February

Tuesday 20 February, 1.30pm, Ground Floor, G19, 15 Innovation Walk, Clayton Campus, Monash University

Presented by Professor Lalita Ramakrishnan, Cambridge University, Head of Molecular Immunity Unit

Lalita Ramakrishnan studies the pathogenesis of tuberculosis using a zebrafish model that her laboratory developed. The optical transparency and genetic tractability of the zebrafish larva have enabled her group to make surprising discoveries about TB pathogenesis and drug tolerance that have
immediate clinical implications. Lalita did her medical training in India and then went to the US where she did a PhD in Immunology, medical residency and fellowship in infectious diseases. During her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford, she developed Mycobacterium marinum as a surrogate for its close genetic relative for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Her lab has since used zebrafish infected with M. marinum to study the immunopathogenesis of TB.

In 2014, she moved from the US to the University of Cambridge where she is Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases and a Principal Research Fellow of the Wellcome Trust.