Immune mechanisms that regulate antiviral immune responses determine whether the host can control pathogen replication and virus-induced immunopathology. The pathogenic human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) establishes chronicity and induces inflammation-associated pathologies. The unrelated influenza virus also elicits significant inflammatory cytokine responses during acute infection. Our laboratory uses a combination of in vivo viral infection models and in vitro cellular systems including iPS-derived myeloid cells to understand the cellular factors that regulate the induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines upon host recognition of viruses. I will present our recent findings regarding novel positive (IRF5) and negative (IFITM3) regulators of virus-induced cytokine production.
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Ian Humphreys received a PhD in Biochemistry in 2004 from Imperial College London after studying T-cell costimulation during respiratory viral infections with Tracy Hussell and Gordon Dougan. He completed his postdoctoral training in the laboratories of Carl Ware and Mick Croft at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, studying the role of TNF receptor family members in cytomegalovirus infection. In 2007, Ian established his own laboratory in Cardiff University where he is now a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow and Reader in the Division of Infection and Immunity. The primary focus of his group is to understand the factors that regulate immune control and infection-induced inflammation during acute and chronic viral infections, and explore the impact that factors such as host and viral genetics may have on these processes.