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York Biomedical Research Institute
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Immunity

Your immune system is critical to protect you against pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. Although protective in such cases, inflammation is a major driver of many pathologies, from cancer to rheumatoid arthritis, allergies and neurological diseases. We aim to understand how our immune system protects our body and harness these protective mechanisms to develop the next generation of therapeutics.

Members of the Immunity Crosscutting team explore fundamental, mechanistic and translational pathways behind protective and harmful immune responses. These include antiviral immune response, innate immune mechanisms such as inflammasome and phagocytosis,  responses to vaccines and diseases. We apply our knowledge to different models, such as skin diseases and infections, cancers, neurodegenerative diseases.

We focus on key tissues where the interface between immune cells and their environment can cause diseases which are still underexplored. Across many tissues – such as skin, brain, blood, bone marrow – our teams use an arsenal of models, including rodents, zebrafish, human cells and human samples. 

By studying fundamental mechanisms behind immune responses in health and disease, our researchers contribute to develop better diagnostics and better treatments against devastating diseases and promote healthy ageing.

a man reaches into a marge microscope enclosure to retrieve a petri dish

Research snapshots

Theme Leads

YBRI members

For a full list of YBRI members, including researchers’ interests and relevance to our disease pillar and cross cutting themes, visit our members’ page.

See the list of YBRI members

Disease pillars

Infection

Researching infectious agents to tackle global health threats through novel therapies and antimicrobial resistance research.

Cancer

Bringing together multidisciplinary experts to advance cancer understanding and develop precise, effective targeted therapies.

Brain health

Addressing vital public health challenges by understanding, preserving, and restoring neurological, cognitive and sensory wellbeing across the lifespan.