Immune and inflammatory Disease
This research group works in three main themes: molecular microbiology, aetiology and treatment of periodontal disease, and mucosal immunology. Major interests in oral microbiology are in microbial diversity and virulence factors. With Professor Mike Curtis (Institute of Cellular Molecular Science, SMD), the group is internationally renowned for its work on the molecular biology of the periodontal pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis. This work has successfully attracted major Research Council funding over many years and currently investigates the development of novel antimicrobial therapies based on the understanding of microbial virulence factors in bacteria.
Work on the aetiology and treatment of periodontal disease includes longstanding studies on the biology of periodontal regeneration and the application of growth factors in periodontal wound healing and regeneration. In addition, considerable work is ongoing to understand host-bacterial interactions and how they regulate mechanisms of tissue damage, including bone resorption, during periodontitis. Large multi-disciplinary studies are taking place to identify and investigate the role of a range of risk and prognostic factors in aggressive periodontitis. This work, funded by the MRC, has established a large tissue bank and database which is allowing complex modelling of the relative role of different risk and aetiological factors in disease risk and outcome, including psychosocial and behavioural factors, clinical factors, microbiological and genetic factors and a range of proteomic markers.
The Institute’s well established expertise in mucosal immunology includes national and international recognition of the establishment of the clinical network for the study of Behcets disease. Major interests of this group include the study of the cellular immunology of the oral mucosa and include immunogenetics, T cell activation and the production of antimicrobial peptides in the oral mucosa.
Academic Staff:
Professor Mike Curtis
Dr Joe Aduse Opoku
Dr Minnie Rangarajan