In this talk I will explore how human genetic variation can impact our risk of infectious disease and the response to vaccination. I will describe how mapping genetic associations with gene expression (eQTL) in a context-specific manner including in the disease state following infection can inform understanding of mechanism.

Julian Knight is Professor of Genomic Medicine at the University of Oxford, Honorary Consultant Physician at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, and Research Director at the NHS Central and South Genomic Medicine Service Alliance. He is clinically active in internal medicine and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. His work is focused on advancing genomic medicine into the clinic, with an active research programme in this area and providing leadership in education and training. He is a Principal Investigator at the Centre for Human Genetics, leading work investigating the genomics of immunity and how this can determine our individual response to infections such as sepsis and development of autoimmunity. He is Director of the Doctoral Training Programme in Genomic Medicine and Statistics at the University of Oxford, and has led the establishment of a new MSc in Genomic Medicine at the University where he is also now Director of the Graduate School for the Medical Sciences Division of the University.