Contact information
lOCATION:
John Radcliffe Hospital, Level 6, Headley Way, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DU
Research groups
Awards
- 2nd prize for the European Society of Organ Transplantation (ESOT) Leonardo da Vinci Innovation Award, ESOT 2019 Congress - read the story on the NDS news pages
Sushma Shankar
NIHR Clinical Lecturer in General Surgery & Transplantation
I am a transplant surgeon in training and also conduct post-doctoral research within the Transplantation Research and Immunology Group. My work focuses on the roles of human B regulatory cells (Breg) in both health and disease. Breg have been shown to be protective in solid organ transplantation and autoimmune disease, whilst promoting disease progression in conditions such as infection and cancer.
At TRIG, we have developed novel methods to generate human Breg in vitro. This enables us to study this exciting cell population in great detail. We are currently interrogating mechanisms by which Breg function in vivo, in clinically relevant humanised mouse models of skin transplantation, to better understand them as a potential cellular therapy. In an innovative new project, we are also investigating the function of human Breg in the progression of pancreatic cancer. This work is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Royal College of Surgeons, Oxfordshire Health Services and the Oxford Transplant Foundation.
Recent publications
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Expanding Human Breg for Cellular Therapy in Transplantation: Time for Translation.
McNee A. et al, (2024), Transplantation
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The current understanding of the phenotypic and functional properties of human regulatory B cells (Bregs).
Ahsan NF. et al, (2024), Oxf Open Immunol, 5
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Ex vivo-expanded human CD19+TIM-1+ regulatory B cells suppress immune responses in vivo and are dependent upon the TIM-1/STAT3 axis.
Shankar S. et al, (2022), Nat Commun, 13
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SARS-CoV-2-Specific T Cell Responses Are Not Associated with Protection against Reinfection in Hemodialysis Patients.
Shankar S. et al, (2022), J Am Soc Nephrol, 33, 883 - 887
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Towards regulatory cellular therapies in solid organ transplantation.
Bottomley MJ. et al, (2022), Trends Immunol, 43, 8 - 21