Immunology

Biography

Simon J Clark obtained his BSc in Biochemistry (with Immunology) at the University of Aberdeen in 2002 and subsequently spent a year working in industry on the development of diagnostic tests for cardiovascular disease. In 2003 he matriculated at Oxford to begin his DPhil studies investigating the interaction of complement factor H (FH), an innate immune regulator, with endogenous sugar molecules as a mechanism for host recognition. In 2006, he moved to the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, to study further the regulation of innate immunity on extracellular matrices and successfully identified the sugar molecules that FH binds to in Bruch’s membrane, the site of AMD pathogenesis. He now works in the Faculty of Medicine and Human Sciences, University of Manchester, where he has taken up an MRC Career Development Fellowship. Recently, he identified another protein, made by alternative splicing of the FH gene; called factor H-like protein 1 (FHL-1) is actually the main complement regulator in Bruch’s membrane. He is now focusing his work on understanding how FHL-1 and the FHR proteins contribute to immune regulation around the human body.

Abstract

Abstract : The role of complement factor H-like and factor H-related proteins in age-related macular degeneration