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lOCATION:

John Radcliffe Hospital, Level 6, Headley Way, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DU

Awards

Sushma Shankar

NIHR Clinical Lecturer in General Surgery & Transplantation

I am a transplant surgeon in training and also conduct post-doctoral research within the Transplantation Research and Immunology Group. My work focuses on the roles of human B regulatory cells (Breg) in both health and disease. Breg have been shown to be protective in solid organ transplantation and autoimmune disease, whilst promoting disease progression in conditions such as infection and cancer.

At TRIG, we have developed novel methods to generate human Breg in vitro. This enables us to study this exciting cell population in great detail. We are currently interrogating mechanisms by which Breg function in vivo, in clinically relevant humanised mouse models of skin transplantation, to better understand them as a potential cellular therapy. In an innovative new project, we are also investigating the function of human Breg in the progression of pancreatic cancer. This work is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Royal College of Surgeons, Oxfordshire Health Services and the Oxford Transplant Foundation.