Dendritic cell subsets in the maintenance of gut health and response to bioactives
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Experimental Medicine
Abstract
In order to maintain human health, it is vital that harmful pathogens that enter the body (such as bacteria and viruses) are quickly eliminated by the immune system. However, immune responses must be carefully controlled so that they are only activated at an appropriate time. If this tight regulation is disrupted, the immune system can potentially attack and damage the organs and tissue of the body, resulting in so-called 'autoimmune disease'. Similarly, allergies can result if the immune system is activated in response to normally harmless substances, such as metal in jewellery or food substances. A particularly critical area of the body for immune regulation is the intestine. The intestine is lined with trillions of bacteria which are important in maintaining normal health, but could potentially trigger an immune response causing inflammatory bowel disease. Similarly, as food substances pass through the intestine, they could also potentially trigger immune activation in the absence of tight control, resulting in food allergy. Therefore, understanding the cells and molecules that control activation of the immune system is paramount if we are going to understand how our immune system functions to maintain normal health. In the food industry, there is great interest in the design of foodstuffs that can actively promote human health (so called 'bioactives'), especially in the gut. For example, many dairy products and drinks contain so-called 'probiotics', which are live bacteria intended to enhance gut health. However, the mechanisms by which bioactives enhance gut health are ill defined, and often there is mistrust from the public in manufacturer's claims that their products will improve health. Therefore, it is essential to understand how bioactives affect the biology of the gut to promote health, to provide important read-outs that can be used to scientifically assess existing and novel bioactives. The only way that enhancement of gut health will be achieved is by increasing our basic understanding of the cells and molecules that maintain and promote normal gut health. As immune regulation is critical in maintaining a healthy gut, understanding how immune responses in the intestine are regulated will be critical in identifying potentially beneficial effects of bioactives. An important cell type involved in regulating all immune responses is the dendritic cell (DC). Our laboratories have recently shown, using mouse models, that important subsets of DC present in the intestine are critical in maintenance of gut health. These DC subsets are characterised by the expression of different proteins on their surface, called CD103 and integrin alphav beta8, and by their ability to produce important molecules called TGF-beta and retinoic acid. The DC promote immune regulation by inducing an immune cell type called 'regulatory T-cells', which are important cells in preventing harmful immune reactions. To build on our mouse studies, it is now critical to identify the role of these specialised DCs in human gut health. Our proposal will characterise these specialised DCs, in terms of the protein markers and molecules they express and how they function in healthy humans. We will go on to identify how known bioactives affect the biology of these DC subsets. This work will therefore identify important cells and pathways that are central to the maintenance of gut health, provide novel data on the how known bioactives work, and identify read-outs by which novel bioactive food substances can be scientifically evaluated for potential beneficial effects on the gut.
Technical Summary
The immune system must be capable of quickly eliminating harmful pathogens that enter the body. However, at the same time the immune system must be tightly regulated to prevent harmful responses against innocuous or self-antigens. If this regulation is abrogated, allergy or autoimmune disease can result. The regulatory balance is especially vital in the intestine, where commensal bacteria and food antigens can potentially trigger immune responses in the gastrointestinal tract. A critical area of research aims to determine the cells and molecules in the intestine that are important in maintaining immune homeostasis at times of health, and what factors contribute to immune diseases of the gut. Recent work in our laboratories has identified intestinal dendritic cell (DC) subsets that are critical in prevention of harmful immune reactions and maintenance of intestinal health in mice. Specifically, these DC express the biomarkers integrin alphav beta8 and CD103, can activate the cytokine TGFbeta, and metabolise vitamin A into its active form retinoic acid. Our work has shown that these DCs are important in the induction of regulatory T-cells in the intestine, a cell type that is essential in maintaining gut health by suppressing autoimmunity and immune pathology. To build upon our studies in mice, it is now critical to translate our findings into human subjects. Our proposal aims to determine how these specialised gut DCs function to maintain intestinal health in humans. Additionally, we will determine how potential dietary bioactives affect these cells and their specific biomarkers. This work will identify important molecules and cells involved in the maintenance of intestinal health, and highlight potential biomarkers of use to the food industry when designing dietary bioactives to enhance human health.
Planned Impact
The research in this proposal aims to identify cells and molecules involved in maintaining the intestine in a healthy state, and determine how bioactive food stuffs can act upon cells of the intestine to promote health. This research will therefore potentially benefit a wide range of people. As well as being of great interest to scientists and clinicians working in a similar scientific area (who can use our research findings to better understand their systems of interest), research in this proposal will benefit those working in the food industry, specifically those with an interest in producing bioactive food stuffs aimed at enhancing health and wellbeing. Our research will be of interest to the food industry via highlighting potential mechanisms by which bioactive foods function to promote health, and also provide important biological readouts for testing novel bioactive food components. In addition to industry, our research will also benefit organisations that set guidelines on the usefulness and safety of bioactives (e.g. European Food Safety Authority, Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy, World Health Organisation), by providing data on potentially important biological readout for bioactive foodstuffs that may be of use when assessing effects of potential novel bioactives. As a result of the benefits to the food industry and regulatory agencies, in the long term our research may benefit the wider public, by indirectly increasing the numbers of useful bioactive foods on the market that benefit health (via better identification of substances that modulate the intestinal immune system) and improving information provided to the public about the benefits of such bioactives. To ensure that the people mentioned above will benefit from the research, we will attend national and international meetings (based around mucosal immunology) to present our findings, to inform as many people in the field as possible. In addition, we will show our progress at the DRINC dissemination events, attended by both academic and industry researchers interested in intestinal immunology and health. Where appropriate, we will publish our findings in high-profile scientific journals to ensure our data is accessible to a wider scientific audience. Disseminating our findings to the wider scientific community will allow further research in academia and in the bioactive food industry based on our studies, which in the long term may lead to better bioactives to improve health in the wider public.
Publications
Bollrath J
(2013)
Controlling the frontier: regulatory T-cells and intestinal homeostasis.
in Seminars in immunology
Bollrath J
(2013)
Immunology. Feed your Tregs more fiber.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Cavounidis A
(2022)
Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 1 causes impaired anti-microbial immunity and inflammation due to dysregulated immunometabolism.
in Mucosal immunology
Friedrich M
(2019)
Cytokine Networks in the Pathophysiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
in Immunity
Kirchberger S
(2013)
Innate lymphoid cells sustain colon cancer through production of interleukin-22 in a mouse model.
in The Journal of experimental medicine
Pearson C
(2016)
ILC3 GM-CSF production and mobilisation orchestrate acute intestinal inflammation.
in eLife
Schiering C
(2014)
The alarmin IL-33 promotes regulatory T-cell function in the intestine.
in Nature
Schulthess J
(2019)
The Short Chain Fatty Acid Butyrate Imprints an Antimicrobial Program in Macrophages.
in Immunity
Description | The immune system must quickly eliminate harmful pathogens that enter the body. However, at the same time immunity must be tightly regulated to prevent harmful responses against innocuous or self-antigens. If this regulation is abrogated, allergy or autoimmune disease can result. The regulatory balance is especially vital in the intestine, where commensal bacteria and food antigens can potentially trigger immune responses. A critical area of research aims to determine the cells and molecules in the intestine that are important in maintaining immune homeostasis at times of health, and what factors contribute to immune diseases of the gut. Our previous work has identified so-called tolerogenic dendritic cell (DC) subsets in the gut that prevent harmful immune reactions and maintenance of intestinal health in mice. Specifically, these DC express the biomarkers integrin alphavbeta8 and CD103, can activate the cytokine TGF-beta, and metabolise vitamin A into its active form retinoic acid (RA). Our work has shown that these DC are important in the induction of regulatory T-cells in the intestine, a cell type that is essential in maintaining gut health by suppressing autoimmunity and immune pathology. Our DRINC research project looked to build upon our studies in mice to translate findings into human subjects. Specifically, we aimed to determine how specialised gut DC function to maintain intestinal health in humans, and whether certain so-called 'bioactive' foods (which are proposed to improve our health) affect the function of these cells and subsequent immune responses. Work during our proposal has shown that markers previously associated with tolerogenic DC in mice are similarly expressed in human. Specifically the molecules CD103 and the integrin alphavbeta8 are preferentially expressed in human gut DC and macrophages. We have described two main subsets of DC present in human intestine; a population expressing the molecules CD141 but not CD1c and a reciprocal CD141+ CD1c-ve population. Our results identify distinct human gut DC subsets that are potentially functionally important in the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis. We also determined if more abundant blood-derived DC can be differentiated to acquire a gut phenotype. To this end, we have successfully differentiated DCs derived from blood monocytes into gut-like DC in the presence of the vitamin A metabolite RA. Thus, cells treated with RA appear more 'gut-like', expressing tolerogenic molecules and less pro- inflammatory molecules, suggesting these cells have important functional properties of gut DC. Indeed, RA-induced DC preferentially induce regulatory T cells. Thus, we describe novel methods to generate large numbers of gut-like DC with tolerance-inducing properties. This work will prove useful to industry by providing more physiological models to screen the effects of dietary molecules/compounds in DC. Additionally, we have highlighted a potentially important dietary component (RA) in regulating the DC-mediated immune response. We have also tested the effects of certain bioactives on regulation of human DCs. We have focussed on probiotic bacterial strains provided of interest to our industrial collaborators Dupont. We found that all probiotic strains tested to date upregulate expression of integrin alphav beta8, an important activator of the cytokine TGF-beta which has been shown in mice to be an important regulator of gut immune homeostasis. Together, we have identified important molecules and cells involved in maintenance of intestinal health, and highlighted potential biomarkers of use to the food industry when designing dietary bioactives to enhance human health. We have additionally developed novel techniques that will allow more rapid analysis of the effects of bioactives on intestinal DC. |
Exploitation Route | We have generated a system to obtain gut-like dendritic cells from blood derived monocytes using butyrate, a metabolite from bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates. Such a system can be used as an important model system to determine important pathways/molecules that can regulate intestinal dendritic cell phenotype and function (for example, the potential role of bioactive food components in modulating gut dendritic cell function). |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Healthcare |
Description | Our proposal aims were to determine how specialised gut dendritic cells (DCs, key cells in regulating T-cell responses) function to maintain intestinal health in humans. Additionally, we aimed to determine how potential dietary bioactives affect these cells and their specific biomarkers. This work might identify important molecules and cells involved in the maintenance of intestinal health, and highlight potential biomarkers of use to the food industry when designing dietary bioactives to enhance human health. Understanding how DC subsets control intestinal homeostasis is crucial for the identification of bioactive compounds that may influence this pathway. The European legislation on the use of nutrition and health claims for foods (EC No. 1924/2006) ensures that claims made on a food label in the EU is are substantiated by scientific evidence. Understanding how the underlying mechanisms by which bioactives function is of paramount importance for the food industry. Our work has the potential to identify biomarkers that could be used as read-outs for the testing of novel dietary supplements designed to improve gut health. |
Description | ARUK The microbiome as a therapeutic target in inflammatory arthritis |
Amount | £1,999,997 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 21226 |
Organisation | Versus Arthritis |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2016 |
End | 03/2021 |
Description | ERC Genetic and environmental factors that control inflammation-dri ven colon cancer |
Amount | € 2,484,620 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 341009 |
Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | Belgium |
Start | 03/2014 |
End | 03/2019 |
Description | Eli Lilly. Deep genotyping and immune response analysis of the Oxford IBD Cohort |
Amount | £1,399,604 (GBP) |
Organisation | Eli Lilly & Company Ltd |
Sector | Private |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2013 |
End | 04/2016 |
Description | Helmsley Trust The immune response in macrophages as a tool to study VEO IBD |
Amount | £188,571 (GBP) |
Organisation | The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United States |
Start | 09/2014 |
End | 09/2017 |
Description | UCB-Celltech. Stromal cells in chronic inflammation |
Amount | £347,582 (GBP) |
Organisation | UCB - Oxford Alliance |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2013 |
End | 12/2014 |
Description | Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award. Immune pathways in the intestine in health and disease |
Amount | £3,153,803 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 095688/Z/11/Z |
Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
Department | Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2010 |
End | 09/2017 |
Title | Generation of gut-like DC from blood |
Description | We have generated a system to obtain gut-like dendritic cells from blood derived monocytes using butyrate, a metabolite from bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates. |
Type Of Material | Biological samples |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Such a system can be used as an important model system to determine important pathways/molecules that can regulate intestinal dendritic cell phenotype and function (for example, the potential role of bioactive food components in modulating gut dendritic cell function). |
Description | DRINC collaborations |
Organisation | DuPont |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Our research team has ample expertise in immunology and specifically on cellular mechanisms in intestinal inflammation. We have identified novel populations of dendritic cells in the human intestine, characterising biomarkers (conserved from mice) with important anti-inflammatory properties. Such findings will pave the way for a greater understanding of how the immune system in the human intestine is regulated, and how such regulation may potentially be targeted by functional foods. We have developed a method to produce large numbers of gut-like dendritic cells from blood dendritic cells via treatment with the vitamin A metabolite retinoic acid. Such cells display markers and functional properties of tolerogenic intestinal dendritic cells. This work provides a robust way of obtaining large numbers of gut-like dendritic cells for study. Such cells could be used to test the modulating properties of potential functional food components, eliminating the need to obtain small numbers of cells from rare primary human intestinal samples. We have identified important pathways that control the expression of biomarkers of human intestinal dendritic cells. Thus, development of our novel culture technique described in B. highlights the potential the potential importance of a dietary component (vitamin A) in the regulation of intestinal dendritic cell phenotype. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our partners in Manchester are experts in TGFbeta and associated integrins. In this project they showed that gut-rich signals (LPS, IL-10) and probiotics are important in regulation of the biomarker integrin avß8, which activated the important cytokine TGFß. Glenn Gibson in Reading provided expertise in pro/prebiotics and DuPont provided the pro/prebiotics tested in this project. |
Impact | - This proposal has resulted in establishment of a novel industrial collaboration between the University of Manchester and Dupont (CASE PhD student) which is looking at the function of probiotics in regulating immune cell function. Collaboration visit of Thomas Fenton (DRINC PhD student) and Dr. Mark Travis to Dr. Lahtinen's group in Dupont, Finland, to strengthen industry collaborative links (January 2012). - Oral and poster presentations at DRINC dissemination events (Birmingham October 2010, Bristol April 2011, Manchester October 2011, Leeds April 2012, Bristol February 2013, Nottingham November 2013). - Seminar given by Fiona Powrie in University of Reading to strengthen academic collaboration (November 2011) - Fiona Powrie has presented some of this work at a number of high profile international meetings including the Keystone DC meeting in 2011, the Gordon Conference on Immunology 2012, the European Congress for Immunology Glasgow 2012, the World Congress of Immunology Milan 2013 and the International Congress of Mucosal Immunology Vancouver 2013 - Thomas Fenton, DRINC PhD student, has given a presentation on results from the grant at the Nutrition Society Annual Summer meeting, at the International Mucosal Immunology Congress 2013 and the British Society of Immunology 2013. - Julie Schulthess, PDRA, has presented abstracts at the European Congress for Immunology 2012 and the British Society of Immunology 2013. - Carolina Arancibia, PDRA, has presented an abstract at the European Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, Copenhagen 2014 |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | DRINC collaborations |
Organisation | University of Manchester |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Our research team has ample expertise in immunology and specifically on cellular mechanisms in intestinal inflammation. We have identified novel populations of dendritic cells in the human intestine, characterising biomarkers (conserved from mice) with important anti-inflammatory properties. Such findings will pave the way for a greater understanding of how the immune system in the human intestine is regulated, and how such regulation may potentially be targeted by functional foods. We have developed a method to produce large numbers of gut-like dendritic cells from blood dendritic cells via treatment with the vitamin A metabolite retinoic acid. Such cells display markers and functional properties of tolerogenic intestinal dendritic cells. This work provides a robust way of obtaining large numbers of gut-like dendritic cells for study. Such cells could be used to test the modulating properties of potential functional food components, eliminating the need to obtain small numbers of cells from rare primary human intestinal samples. We have identified important pathways that control the expression of biomarkers of human intestinal dendritic cells. Thus, development of our novel culture technique described in B. highlights the potential the potential importance of a dietary component (vitamin A) in the regulation of intestinal dendritic cell phenotype. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our partners in Manchester are experts in TGFbeta and associated integrins. In this project they showed that gut-rich signals (LPS, IL-10) and probiotics are important in regulation of the biomarker integrin avß8, which activated the important cytokine TGFß. Glenn Gibson in Reading provided expertise in pro/prebiotics and DuPont provided the pro/prebiotics tested in this project. |
Impact | - This proposal has resulted in establishment of a novel industrial collaboration between the University of Manchester and Dupont (CASE PhD student) which is looking at the function of probiotics in regulating immune cell function. Collaboration visit of Thomas Fenton (DRINC PhD student) and Dr. Mark Travis to Dr. Lahtinen's group in Dupont, Finland, to strengthen industry collaborative links (January 2012). - Oral and poster presentations at DRINC dissemination events (Birmingham October 2010, Bristol April 2011, Manchester October 2011, Leeds April 2012, Bristol February 2013, Nottingham November 2013). - Seminar given by Fiona Powrie in University of Reading to strengthen academic collaboration (November 2011) - Fiona Powrie has presented some of this work at a number of high profile international meetings including the Keystone DC meeting in 2011, the Gordon Conference on Immunology 2012, the European Congress for Immunology Glasgow 2012, the World Congress of Immunology Milan 2013 and the International Congress of Mucosal Immunology Vancouver 2013 - Thomas Fenton, DRINC PhD student, has given a presentation on results from the grant at the Nutrition Society Annual Summer meeting, at the International Mucosal Immunology Congress 2013 and the British Society of Immunology 2013. - Julie Schulthess, PDRA, has presented abstracts at the European Congress for Immunology 2012 and the British Society of Immunology 2013. - Carolina Arancibia, PDRA, has presented an abstract at the European Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, Copenhagen 2014 |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | DRINC collaborations |
Organisation | University of Reading |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Our research team has ample expertise in immunology and specifically on cellular mechanisms in intestinal inflammation. We have identified novel populations of dendritic cells in the human intestine, characterising biomarkers (conserved from mice) with important anti-inflammatory properties. Such findings will pave the way for a greater understanding of how the immune system in the human intestine is regulated, and how such regulation may potentially be targeted by functional foods. We have developed a method to produce large numbers of gut-like dendritic cells from blood dendritic cells via treatment with the vitamin A metabolite retinoic acid. Such cells display markers and functional properties of tolerogenic intestinal dendritic cells. This work provides a robust way of obtaining large numbers of gut-like dendritic cells for study. Such cells could be used to test the modulating properties of potential functional food components, eliminating the need to obtain small numbers of cells from rare primary human intestinal samples. We have identified important pathways that control the expression of biomarkers of human intestinal dendritic cells. Thus, development of our novel culture technique described in B. highlights the potential the potential importance of a dietary component (vitamin A) in the regulation of intestinal dendritic cell phenotype. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our partners in Manchester are experts in TGFbeta and associated integrins. In this project they showed that gut-rich signals (LPS, IL-10) and probiotics are important in regulation of the biomarker integrin avß8, which activated the important cytokine TGFß. Glenn Gibson in Reading provided expertise in pro/prebiotics and DuPont provided the pro/prebiotics tested in this project. |
Impact | - This proposal has resulted in establishment of a novel industrial collaboration between the University of Manchester and Dupont (CASE PhD student) which is looking at the function of probiotics in regulating immune cell function. Collaboration visit of Thomas Fenton (DRINC PhD student) and Dr. Mark Travis to Dr. Lahtinen's group in Dupont, Finland, to strengthen industry collaborative links (January 2012). - Oral and poster presentations at DRINC dissemination events (Birmingham October 2010, Bristol April 2011, Manchester October 2011, Leeds April 2012, Bristol February 2013, Nottingham November 2013). - Seminar given by Fiona Powrie in University of Reading to strengthen academic collaboration (November 2011) - Fiona Powrie has presented some of this work at a number of high profile international meetings including the Keystone DC meeting in 2011, the Gordon Conference on Immunology 2012, the European Congress for Immunology Glasgow 2012, the World Congress of Immunology Milan 2013 and the International Congress of Mucosal Immunology Vancouver 2013 - Thomas Fenton, DRINC PhD student, has given a presentation on results from the grant at the Nutrition Society Annual Summer meeting, at the International Mucosal Immunology Congress 2013 and the British Society of Immunology 2013. - Julie Schulthess, PDRA, has presented abstracts at the European Congress for Immunology 2012 and the British Society of Immunology 2013. - Carolina Arancibia, PDRA, has presented an abstract at the European Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, Copenhagen 2014 |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | 2016 Edinburgh Science Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | I gave a talk and contributed to a panel discussion focussing on gut bacteria and their relationships with our health. The audience asked a broad range of questions exploring diet, faecal transplants, probiotics, antibiotics among many other topics. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://britsocimmblog.org/gut-feeling/ |
Description | 2016 Oxfordshire Science Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Members of my laboratory presented our Gut Reactions exhibit at the Oxfordshire Science Festival. This exhibit includes a magnetic giant gut wall that encourages the public to think differently about the immune cells and bacteria that inhabit out gut. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.oxfordshiresciencefestival.com/2016-festival-programme.html |
Description | 2017 Oxfordshire Science Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | My laboratory displayed our Gut Reactions exhibit to communicate our work to the public. The exhibit models healthy immune-microbe interactions and how this breaks down in disease. The aim is educate the general public about the importance of the gut and our microbiome and to excite children about science. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.oxscifest.com/ |
Description | BBSRC Great British Bioscience Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Together with scientists from the University of Reading, my lab prepared an exhibition designed to educate the public about the journey of a probiotic through the gut. The exhibition allowed the general public to: Look at 'good' bacteria in fermented foods and probiotics under the microscope Encapsulate probiotic bacteria to enable them to survive the acidity of the stomach Walk through a human colon complete with bacterial communities responding to the food in your diet Explore our interactive map demonstrating communication between gut bacteria and the immune system |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/engagement/exhibitions/gb-bioscience-festival/friends-in-low-places/ |
Description | Brighton Science Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | My lab was invited to prepare a one day stand at this event and we prepared a range of interactive activities including a giant magnetic wall representing the gut and its microbes. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.schoolscience.co.uk/brightonsciencefestival |
Description | Cheltenham Science Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Together with Drs Lindsey Hall and Adam Hart, I gave a talk exploring the vital role of the bacteria that inhabit the human body and what happens when this bacterial ecosystem goes wrong. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/science/whats-on/2015/our-friendly-bacteria/ |
Description | Gordon Conference on Immunology |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
Results and Impact | Discussion Collaborations, expertise |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Hartmann Muller Award and Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Discussion and questions |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | International Congress of Mucosal Immunology Vancouver |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
Results and Impact | Discussion Dissemination |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Jean Shanks Lecture, Academy of Medical Sciences |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Discussion and questions |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Keynote talk at Oxfordshire Young Scientists of the Year event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | The event hosted over 200 Year 13 students and their families, with 31 participating Oxfordshire secondary schools invited to nominate their top students in physics, chemistry and biology for an award. My talk gave a lay summary of my research on the bacteria that live in our gut as well as advice for aspiring young scientists. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://www.ndm.ox.ac.uk/young-scientists-of-the-year-2013 |
Description | Keystone DC meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
Results and Impact | Questions and Discussion Collaborations |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | Media Interest- Frontiers in Science |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | "Dinning out with friends: Host microbe interactions in the gut", participated in the Radio 4 programme, Frontiers in Science Radio talk to communicate science to the public More interest about gut related diseases from public |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | President's talk in Wolfson College given by Carolina Arancibia |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Talk sparked discussion from public Academic members discussed collaborations |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Public Open Day - Celebrating Biomedical Research |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Members of my laboratory took the Gut Reactions exhibit as a method of communicating the BRC's research in the area mucosal immunology and the microbiome to patients and the general public. The exhibit helped visitors understand current research in the area of mucosal immunology and why it is important. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://oxfordbrc.nihr.ac.uk/event/public-open-day-celebrating-medical-research/ |
Description | Royal Society Satellite Science Exhibition |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Members of my laboratory presented our Gut Reactions exhibit, which includes a magnetic giant gut wall that encourages the public to think differently about the immune cells and bacteria that inhabit out gut. It was estimated that more than 5000 visitors attended the event. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/science-exhibition-manchester/exhibits/youre-ne... |
Description | Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Together with Holm Uhlig's laboratory (University of Oxford), my group organised a full stand exhibit at this seven day exhibition. The activities on offer were a giant magnetic wall representing the gut with magnetised fluffy microbes, a histology game to spot the inflamed guts and endoscopy videos showing the removal of polyps from the colon. There were at least 2000 visitors to the stall over the course of the exhibition. This included a mix of organised school visits, families, university students and interested adults. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://sse.royalsociety.org/2014/visit-us |
Description | Seminar given by Fiona Powrie in University of Reading to strengthen academic collaboration |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
Results and Impact | Questions and discussion afterwards Round table discussion with Food experts |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | Student work experience |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | My lab has hosted 10 work experience students since 2013. These students were given the opportunity to perform experiments and analyse data. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2014,2015 |