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SUMMARY:Evolution of disease susceptibility - how ancient mosquitoes can r
 uin your life - Prof. Ken Smith\, Genzyme Professor of Experimental Medici
 ne\, Cambridge
DTSTART:20080310T194500Z
DTEND:20080310T210000Z
UID:TALK9653@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Miss Clare Buckley
DESCRIPTION:Perhaps 25% of people will end up with an autoimmune disease a
 t some point in their life. These illnesses occur when the immune system t
 urns on the body\, no longer recognizing it as “self” and thus attacki
 ng it. Many of these diseases are common (type I diabetes\, rheumatoid art
 hritis) or prominent (multiple sclerosis\, lupus). We are all at risk of t
 hese illnesses\, and our degree of risk is genetically determined. This ge
 netic risk is inherited in a complex “polygenic” fashion\, rather than
  in a simple mendelian one like haemophilia or cystic fibrosis. It results
  in huge variation in disease susceptibility between families\, and often 
 between races and ethnic groups.\n\nI will examine the principles behind t
 he inheritance of risk of autoimmunity\, presenting evidence from studies 
 in wild mice in Australia and Iran and in people from the UK\, Hong Kong a
 nd Kenya. This suggests that the evolution of our predisposition to autoim
 mune disease is all about mosquitos\, but that mosquitos might also be our
  saviours. \n\nKen Smith\n\nMA BMedSc MBBS PhD FRACP FRCPA FRCP FHEA FMedS
 ci\n\nGenzyme Professor of Experimental Medicine\, and Head of the Divisio
 n of Renal Medicine\, Department of Medicine\, University of Cambridge\n\n
 Khoo Oon Teik Professor of Nephrology\, University of Singapore\n\nHonorar
 y Consultant Physician\, Addenbrooke’s Hospital\, Cambridge.\n\nFellow a
 nd Director of Studies in Clinical Medicine\, Pembroke College\, Cambridge
 \n\nProgramme Director\, NIH - University of Cambridge Biomedical Research
  Graduate Programme.\n\nKen Smith trained in medicine at the University of
  Melbourne\, and completed a BMedSc in the Nuffield Department of Surgery\
 , University of Oxford\, in T cell immunology. He trained in nephrology wi
 th an interest in autoimmune disease at the Royal Melbourne Hospital\, and
  then completed pathology training specialising in clinical immunology. Hi
 s PhD (with David Tarlinton and Prof Sir Gus Nossal: Walter and Eliza Hall
  Institute) examined aspects of B cell immunology\, work subsequently buil
 t upon in two years working with Prof Douglas Fearon in Cambridge.\n\nHe n
 ow runs a laboratory in the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research which
  has two main components. The first studies basic immunological mechanisms
 \, and how defects in regulatory control of the immune system can lead to 
 autoimmunity and alter defence against infection. Recent work has focussed
  on how FcgRIIb\, an inhibitory receptor for IgG\, controls the immune sys
 tem\, and how polymorphic variants in it modulate immune responses and inf
 luence the development of autoimmunity and protection against bacterial in
 fection and malaria. This has provided an insight into the evolution of pr
 edisposition to autoimmunity\, and identified potential therapeutic strate
 gies.\n\nThe second component is a translational programme which has recru
 ited over 120 patients with autoimmune diseases (particularly SLE and vasc
 ulitis) and is studying them by correlating detailed prospective clinical 
 data before and after novel therapies\, with data generated from RNA micro
 arrays and proteomic analysis. This work has led to the design of better i
 nformed clinical trials\, and the identification of important genes involv
 ed in disease pathogenesis. It is now being extended to allow the study of
  Asian populations\, in whom SLE is more common and severe\, in collaborat
 ion with the National University of Singapore.\n\nHis clinical research fo
 cuses on trials of novel biological agents in autoimmunity and renal trans
 plantation. In 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Scie
 nces\, and in 2007 was awarded the Lister Institute Research Prize.
LOCATION:Nihon Room\, Pembroke College
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