Immunology, Microbiome & Cancer Group
Welcome to the Immunology, Microbiome and Cancer Group at the University of Portsmouth! Our group is dedicated to understanding the role of immune system and the microbiome in health and disease.
We are a vibrant and diverse team of scientists and students, working in collaboration with other laboratories and colleagues from around the world. We use cutting-edge approaches approaches to unravel the molecular mechanisms and discover novel therapies for devastating conditions, such as cancer and infectious diseases and neurodegenerative diseases.
Through our research, we hope to improve the quality of life of patients and the general population. We thrive to see the impact of our basic scientific research in the clinic (translational research).
We look forward to collaborating with other researchers, clinical and pharmaceutical partners to help bring our discoveries to the forefront of medical science.
Research Highlights
Research Facilities & Environment
Our research laboratory is located at the Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences of University of Portsmouth which has well-equipped infrastructure for research into human diseases. We have access to excellent tissue culture facilities, a bioresources unit with transgenic and knockout models for pre-clinical and in vivo studies, and experimental rooms which are important for our research.
Equipment within the School include Laser scanning confocal microscope, flow cytometer, facilities for protein separation, liquid and solid phase purification and immunoblotting, real-time RT-PCR for gene expression and an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer for detailed nucleic acid quality control. Together with the existing facilities of collaborating laboratories our laboratory has access to world class equipment.
We use various approaches in our research, ranging from omics (transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics), molecular and biochemical methods, microscopy (confocal to X-ray to electron microscopy), cell and organ culture, gene modifications, and transgenic animals as appropriate models of human diseases.
Tissue Culture Labs
Flow Cytometry Core Facility
Main Laboratory Areas
Molecular Biology Unit
Imaging Facilities (Confocal Microscopes, Live-cell Imaging Microscopes)
Analytical Facilities (HPLC, GC-MS/MS)
Our Project & Research Students
Working with Best Partners
Recent Publications
Ambite I, Tran TH, Butler DS, Cavalera M, Wan ML, Ahmadi S, Svanborg C. Therapeutic effects of IL-1RA against acute bacterial infections, including antibiotic-resistant strains. Pathogens. 2023 Dec 31;13(1):42.
Chavoshi H, Taheri M, Wan ML, Sabzichi M. Crocin-loaded liposomes sensitize MDA-MB 231 breast cancer cells to doxorubicin by inducing apoptosis. Process Biochemistry. 2023 Apr 13.
Hien TT, Ambite I, Wan ML, Cavalera M, Esmaeili P, Chaudhuri A, Sabari S, Babjuk M, Svanborg C. Long‐term prevention of bladder cancer progression by alpha1‐oleate alone or in combination with chemotherapy. International Journal of Cancer. 2023 Mar 9.
Butler D, Ambite I, Wan ML, Tran TH, Wullt B, Svanborg C. Immunomodulation therapy offers new molecular strategies to treat UTI. Nature Reviews Urology. 2022 Jul;19(7):419-37.
Ambite I, Butler D, Wan ML, Rosenblad T, Tran TH, Chao SM, Svanborg C. Molecular determinants of disease severity in urinary tract infection. Nature Reviews Urology. 2021 Aug;18(8):468-86.
Latest News
30 Jan: Danushiya and Gouthaman joined us as MRes. Welcome!
31 Dec: We published an original article in Specific issues in Pathogens Journal on therapeutic effects of IL-1RA against acute bacterial infections.
15 Nov: Got a small grant from The Royal Physiographic Society of Lund for our infection project.
1 Oct: Shivam Kumar joined us as PhD. Welcome!
1 Aug: We are looking for a talented candidate to fill up the four-year PhD position (Starting in Sept 2023) at the University of Eastern Finland supervised by Professor Hani El-Nezami, Dr Carlos Gallego (University of Eastern Finland) and Dr Murphy Wan (University of Portsmouth). For details: please refer to https://lnkd.in/e9bkzqjx
12 Jun: Jessica James joined us today as summer intern. Welcome!
30 May: Got a €0.5 million four-year research grant from Academy of Finland as Co-I (in collaboration with Prof. Hani El-Nezami, University of Eastern Finland)
15 May: Mai, Tushali and Ali started their MSc projects in our lab today. Welcome!
12 Apr: We published an original article in Process Biochemistry on use of crocin-loaded liposomes as novel breast cancer treatment