The BSI Regional and Affinity Groups provide a wide range of opportunities for immunologists to network, share ideas and collaborate, drawing on the wealth of expertise in a particular specialism or geographical area. Here we hear more about the activities and focus of the BSI Midlands Immunology Group, and the symposium it has planned for June 2025 to help bring together clinical and academic immunologists.
A rich history
The Midlands is home to a rich history of clinical immunology and medical science. In the nineteenth century, students and surgeons based at Birmingham’s medical school were responsible for many significant advances in surgery and clinical practice. It is here that Langston Parker first used ether as an anaesthetic, and where surgeon Joseph Gamgee developed aseptic surgical dressing Gamgee Tissue. Even local author JRR Tolkien was impressed and named one of his hobbits (Samwise Gamgee) after the eminent surgeon. More recently, it is the birthplace of UK clinical immunology, where Prof Philip Gell developed the hypersensitivity classification system with Robin Coombs while working at the University of Birmingham Medical School. Moreover, the medical school in Nottingham opened to its first intake in October 1970, and since then the collaboration between scientists and medics has continued to grow with many key discoveries including the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that has revolutionised diagnostic medicine.
This tradition of driving advances in clinical research and medical sciences continues to this day. In Birmingham, specialist immunodeficiency centres and clinical immunology testing serve a population of over two million people. In Nottingham and Leicester, there are research groups dedicated to developing precision immune-based therapies for cancer and chronic diseases. Heartlands Hospital in central Birmingham houses the largest Immune Deficiency department in the West Midlands and is one the largest in the UK. Alongside these clinical networks, the Midlands is also where you’ll find several world-leading immunology research groups, responsible for developing new models and making fundamental discoveries, leading the way in applying precision medicine for a range of globally important diseases.
Supporting collaboration
The highest quality research often involves a mixture of clinical and basic approaches. The ‘bench to bedside’ approach helps translate findings from the laboratory into the clinic and deliver life-saving treatments to patients. To be successful, translational research depends on support and collaboration between immunologists focused on fundamental biology and immunologists working in a clinical capacity, as well as their patients.
To support and promote such collaborations, the BSI Midlands is hosting a one-day symposium in Birmingham that aims to foster networking between clinical and academic immunologists, while celebrating the many great examples of translational immunology being conducted in the Midlands. Our goal is to help the immunology community find common ground and capitalise on the rich resources we have to offer. To achieve this, we will showcase some of the best research being conducted within the region in clinical and basic discovery immunology.
A packed programme
Speakers will include leaders of the clinical immunology and immune deficiency centres based in the Midlands. They will highlight the cohorts of patients treated in the Midlands and explain how researching rare immunodeficiencies can lead to advances in understanding immune cell function and aetiology of complex diseases. From Leicester, Professor Louise Wain will discuss her research on the genetics of pulmonary diseases and the clinical work her group is doing to understand the long-term effects of COVID-19.
We will also hear from Dr John James (Warwick), who has developed novel approaches using optogenetics to better understand how inhibitory receptors targeted by cancer immune checkpoint blockade work. Dr Sarah Dimeloe (Birmingham), an expert in immune metabolism, will speak on her research that uses patient samples and mouse models to shed light on how metabolic pathways regulate T-cell inflammatory function during cancer and infection.
Alongside our invited speakers, we will have several slots available for oral presentations selected from submitted abstracts, and a dedicated poster session which will coincide with an immunology networking event to help conference attendees find like-minded researchers in their fields. We hope you can join us in Birmingham on 20 June, and help us bridge the gap between clinical and fundamental immunology.
Dr Rebecca Drummond (University of Birmingham), on behalf of the BSI Midlands Immunology Group.