Innate Immunity: Pattern Recognition and Effector Mechanisms

This contributed volume follows up and expands upon Target Pattern Recognition in Innate Immunity (2009), providing a much-needed update on an area that has surged to the forefront of medical research in recent years. From the initial idea of pattern recognition on microbial surfaces, innate immunity is now recognized as a key player in human health and disease, by virtue of its ability to regulate adaptive immune responses with important physiological and pathological consequences. This book presents cutting edge research and future perspectives on nearly all aspects of innate immunity. Coverage includes cells of the innate immune system, pattern recognition receptors and effector mechanisms, soluble PRRs and humoral factors, immune response to viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic pathogens, disease mechanisms, and comparative studies in non-mammalian innate immunity. It is an excellent introduction to the field for students, and state of the art reference for researchers and professionals.

Uday Kishore is a teacher and a scientist with special interest in innate immunity. He was the Founder Director of the Centre for Infection, Immunity and Disease Mechanisms, Brunel University London. He earned his BSc from S.P. Jain College, Sasaram, Bihar, India; MSc from Hindu College, Delhi; and PhD from the Department of Zoology, University of Delhi and CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, India. After spending a year at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, he moved to the University of Oxford for the major part of his post-doctoral training, first at the MRC Immunochemistry Unit, Department of Biochemistry, and then at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital. His is the recipient of fellowships of NASA (USA), Wellcome Trust (UK) and Alexander Humboldt Foundation (Germany), MRC Investigator Prize, European Commission Young Scientist Prize, and Mother Teresa Excellence Award. Uday Kishore holds several adjunct, visiting  and honorary professorial positions nationally and internationally. He has altogether authored over 200 research papers, book chapters, patents, and books. His research focuses on how C-type lectins (especially collectins such as surfactant protein D) and individual complement proteins (C1q, factor H and properdin) resist a range of pathogens such as HIV-1, SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A Virus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Aspergillus fumigatus and Plasmodium falciparum. 

Andrew George is a coach and consultant in education, healthcare, and research ethics, as well as Emeritus Professor at Brunel University, London. He read Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, before going to the University of Southampton to do his PhD, developing a vaccine for lymphoma. He was awarded a Beit Memorial Fellowship before moving to the National Institutes of Health, USA, where he used recombinant techniques to make novel antibodies. He then joined the HammersmithHospital, which became part of Imperial College London. At Imperial he was Director of the Graduate School and the School of Professional Development. Andrew was Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education and International) at Brunel University London (2013-2018) and was also responsible for strategic projects, including a new Learning and Teaching Centre and a Enterprise Resource Planning system. Andrew’s research has sought to understand and manipulate the immune system to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs and treat cancer. He has also used mathematical models to understand how the immune system functions. Andrew has led on the ethical conduct of research, he was Chair of the National Research Ethics Advisors’ Panel (2009-2017) and on the Clinical Trials Expert Advisory Group for the MHRA (2007-2017). Andrew holds a portfolio of non-executive roles in healthcare, education and the charitable sector. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, The Higher Education Academy,The Royal Society of Arts and The Royal Society of Biology. Andrew was appointed MBE for his services to research participants and the ethical governance of clinical research in the 2017 New Year Honours.