Research groups
Websites
-
MRC Human Immunology Unit
Research Unit
-
Nuffield Department of Medicine
Department
Oliver Bannard
PhD
Professor of Adaptive Immunity
- Wellcome Senior Research Fellow
Development of humoral immunity in germinal centres
My research has focussed upon investigating how adaptive immune responses are mounted following immunisation and during infection. I completed my PhD in 2009 with Professor Douglas Fearon in Cambridge and I was a postdoc with Professor Jason Cyster at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). I have been a group leader in Oxford since 2015.
Our group is interested in determining the events and processes that lead to the generation of effective humoral (antibody-mediated) immune responses. Our major focus is the germinal centre reaction. These are specialised structures in which activated B cells evolve their antibodies through iterative random mutagenesis and selection, thereby enhancing how well they bind their cognate antigen (known as antibody affinity maturation). Germinal centres are also responsible for generating the long-lived memory B cells and plasma cells that confer immunological memory and protect from infection/disease.
Recent publications
-
Germinal centers output clonally diverse plasma cell populations expressing high- and low-affinity antibodies.
Journal article
Sprumont A. et al, (2023), Cell, 186, 5486 - 5499.e13
-
Apoptotic cell fragments locally activate tingible body macrophages in the germinal center.
Journal article
Grootveld AK. et al, (2023), Cell, 186, 1144 - 1161.e18
-
Secondary influenza challenge triggers resident memory B cell migration and rapid relocation to boost antibody secretion at infected sites.
Journal article
MacLean AJ. et al, (2022), Immunity, 55, 718 - 733.e8
-
Competition for refueling rather than cyclic reentry initiation evident in germinal centers.
Journal article
Long Z. et al, (2022), Sci Immunol, 7
-
Hepcidin-Mediated Hypoferremia Disrupts Immune Responses to Vaccination and Infection.
Journal article
Frost JN. et al, (2021), Med, 2, 164 - 179.e12