Infectious diseases, global challenges.

The Research conducted at the Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases aims to deliver value to communities and the medical industry on an international scale. This commitment has already been recognised with a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The team of researchers, led by Professors Simon Mallal and Ian James, has already made an enormous difference to the way the HIV AIDS and other diseases are researched and treated. The team has:

• Worked on specific vaccines that relate to the treatment of HIV after they identified a relationship between human genetic diversity and HIV diversity;
• Identified a genetic link between an anti-HIV drug and life-threatening reactions, and developed a genetic test to determine patients’ suitability for that treatment;
• Linked a group of anti-HIV drugs to a fat-wasting disease; and
• Maintained the world’s largest repository of population data on HIV and human genetic diversity.

The Research team now plans to expand their efforts into areas such as clinical pharmacology, haemophilia and thrombosis, research and tropical diseases.

Beyond this research, the principles behind what is known as host-pathogen genetics could benefit cancer research and other areas of life sciences including environmental science, agriculture and veterinary medicine.

Read more about the areas of research.