London Met PhD student to present work in parliament

A PhD student from London Metropolitan University’s Faculty of Life Sciences has been selected to showcase his research at the House of Commons. Ephraim Ansa-Addo, a 3rd year student at the Faculty’s Cellular and Molecular Immunology Research Centre (CMIRC) will present his work as part of SET for BRITAIN 2010.

SET for BRITAIN exists to support and promote Britain's early-stage and early-career research scientists, engineers and technologists. The event at the House of Commons will see prizes awarded for the best scientific posters presented in three disciplines: physical sciences, engineering, and biological and biomedical science.

Ephraim has discovered a new mechanism by which the parasite which causes Chagas disease invades host cells. He has discovered that the parasite cleverly exploits the cell’s own membrane-repair mechanisms to gain entry. With further work, it may be possible to translate this finding into a therapy for Chagas disease or other intracellular pathogens.

Commenting on the important of the findings, CMIRC Director Professor Jameel Inal explained: ‘The findings of this work could relate to various intracellular pathogens and provide an understanding for how they cause disease. With this knowledge we can now direct novel approaches to develop an effective therapy for certain infectious diseases.’

The research is part of a collaborative study with the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz in Rio. Building on Ephraim’s work CMIRC has gone on to show the role Plasma Membrane-derived Vesicles (PMVs) which are released from host cells during infection, play in enhancing infectivity.

The CMIRC, under the directorship of Professor Jameel Inal, works with external collaborators, associate members, and researchers with backgrounds in immunology, infectious disease, biology and genetics. The centre aims to focus their combined research efforts to help further understanding of the immunology of infection and autoimmune disease and to apply this knowledge for possible future therapies.

4 February 2010