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Dr Kate Attfield awarded project funding by Connect Immune Research and The Lorna and Yuti Chernajovsky Biomedical Research Foundation.

Headshot of Kate Attfield © Kate Attfield

Dr Kate Attfield, a Junior Principal Investigator and member of the Oxford Centre for Neuroinflammation at the MRC Human Immunology Unit, has been awarded funding for the project ‘Applying functional genomics to identify causal cell states across autoimmune disease’.

"This is a great opportunity to explore new ways to identify causal cells in autoimmune disease, using genetics as the foundation on which to create new treatment options that provide safer and greater efficacy for patients" says Dr Attfield. "I look forward to developing this study with a supportive team of collaborators within the MRC HIU and NDCN."

One of ten new pilot projects announced to identify underlying causes of autoimmune diseases, the project aims to explore how individual immune cells can be driven to cause auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and bowel disease, and how new treatments may be developed to redirect this process.

“The Chernajovsky Foundation is delighted to be funding these innovative translational research projects with our Connect Immune Research partners, which we hope will improve the lives of people living with autoimmune conditions” says Professor Yuti Chernajovsky, co-founder and trustee of the Lorna and Yuti Chernajovsky Biomedical Research Foundation. “We look forward to seeing the projects develop as part of a new collaborative approach to research on autoimmunity.”

Read the full press release on the British Society for Immunology website.

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