Effect of Modulation of ERAP1 activity in antigen processing and presentation

• Scientific Background

Shami graduated in Pharmacy from the University of Barcelona with a specialization in industrial pharmacy and pharmaceutical research in September 2019. In his bachelor’s thesis I studied the neurodevelopmental effects of MDMA in zebrafish embryos and larvae to try to get a better understanding of the adverse outcomes described in humans. He was given a scholarship to attend an entrepreneurship program held at Babson College, where university students are taught about entrepreneurship from the diverse experiences of professors with real-world entrepreneurial practice. The program was sponsored by Banco Santander. He did an internship in the antibody discovery team at OXGENE where he worked with a novel mammalian display antibody discovery technology targeting membrane proteins. He also participated in the screening development using mammalian cell lines coupled with FACS and cell enrichment techniques (MACS). He won the IELTS Award in Spain which is basically an award given by the British Council, designed to help a dynamic, innovative person with a high motivation to develop their career and that can show the potential to make a significant contribution to society with their studies.

• CAPSTONE project
  

The project is focused on fundamental aspects of antigen processing and presentation at the Centre for Cancer Immunology at the University of Southampton. Shami will work in the team of E. James interested in understanding the antigen processing pathway and how this impacts on the immune response to cancer and autoimmunity. The selected candidate will study how modulation of antigen processing and presentation alters the generation and presentation of antigenic peptide epitopes in mouse and human tumours, cell lines and primary tissue. This fundamental project will use advanced techniques and approaches recently developed in the lab to probe these research questions. He will collaborate with a fellow PhD student studying the ability to induce protective anti-tumour responses through modulation of the antigen processing and presentation pathway

• Supervisory team

Dr. Edward James

• Contact

S.Alvarez-Mourid[at]soton.ac.uk

• More on Shami's project