LOCATION:
John Radcliffe Hospital, Level 6, Headley Way, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DU
Research groups
Joanna Hester
MSc, PhD
University Research Lecturer
I am a Kidney Research UK Senior Fellow and group co-leader in the Transplantation Research Immunology Group (TRIG).
My research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of immunological tolerance versus immune activation with a view to developing therapies that could benefit transplant recipients and patients with immune related diseases. I am particularly interested in immune cells with regulatory properties, regulatory T cells (Treg) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells and the mechanisms of suppression utilized by these cells. By providing the data on the in vivo efficacy of ex vivo expanded human Treg, my research helped to inform the current clinical study; the TWO Study, in which we are testing safety and efficacy of Treg cells in kidney transplant recipients.
Though my collaborations with colleagues in Oxford and beyond, I am also involved in projects investigating the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy and changes in the immune response in cancer, both in animal models and clinical trials.
Recent publications
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Chimeric antigen receptor-modified human regulatory T cells that constitutively express interleukin-10 maintain their phenotype and are potently suppressive
Journal article
ISSA F., (2021), European Journal of Immunology
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Biomarker and surrogate development in vascularised composite allograft transplantation: Current progress and future challenges.
Journal article
Honeyman C. et al, (2020), J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg
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IL-33 drives the production of mouse regulatory T cells with enhanced in vivo suppressive activity in skin transplantation
Journal article
ISSA F. et al, (2020), American Journal of Transplantation
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CD70 expression determines the therapeutic efficacy of expanded human regulatory T cells.
Journal article
Arroyo Hornero R. et al, (2020), Commun Biol, 3
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Distinct metabolic pathways mediate regulatory T cell differentiation and function.
Journal article
Hashimoto H. et al, (2020), Immunol Lett, 223, 53 - 61