Barrier surfaces such as the lung and intestine contain a huge number of immune cells that are poised to attack harmful micro-organisms, but must be tightly regulated to ignore innocuous environmental substances and commensal micro-organisms.

Significant progress has been made in our understanding of blood coagulation, but unknown genes contribute to the variable disease severity observed among patients with clotting disorders.

The LIGO-Virgo interferometer detected gravitational waves from a neutron star merger in a galaxy 130 million light years away. This was a breakthrough for physics and astronomy.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest family of cell surface drug targets. Consequently, there is high interest in understanding the structure of members of this receptor superfamily and molecular detail of how ligands and transducer proteins interact with the receptors.

Altered expression, function or localisation of epigenetic enzymes and/or their partner proteins can play a crucial role in cancer onset and progression. I will present data showing that BETi can affect anti-tumor immune response through effects on both the target tumor cells and on immune cells.

Neutrophils and macrophages are the front-line phagocytes involved in host defence. From live imaging of neutrophils and macrophages in zebrafish models, we have observed new aspects neutrophil morphology and function during infection and inflammation.

Inflammation is a double-edged weapon. When localized and moderate, it is beneficial – aiding the resolution of infections and healing. When excessive and systemic, it becomes a problem – host tissues may be damaged by its ‘friendly fire’. Mechanisms have thus evolved to keep inflammation under tight control. The seminar will describe what we know about how the Inflammation Reflex works and what may be its biological and medical significance.

In this talk, I will first showcase a seminal work where integrative methods were used for discovering fundamental mechanisms in stem cells.