Inflammasomes in infection and inflammatory disease

The innate immune system is critical to defence against infection, but also drives unhealthy processes in inflammatory disease. An important pathway in innate immunity is the inflammasome.

Inflammasomes are molecular machines that trigger cytokine maturation and immune system activation in response to signals indicating cellular ‘danger’. While the inflammasome pathway is critical for host defence against infection, it is also a key driver of unhealthy inflammation in many human diseases.

We use a wide variety of molecular and cell biology techniques, in conjunction with animal models and human clinical samples, to investigate the biology of inflammasomes in host defence and inflammatory disease at the molecular, cellular and organismal levels.

Traineeships, honours and PhD projects include

• Inflammasome function in host defence against infection
• Human-specific inflammasome and caspase pathways
• Pathogenic inflammasome function in human diseases
• Inflammasome inhibition by small molecule drugs and cellular pathways
• Neutrophil inflammasome function during infection and disease.