DrRyan Thwaites
Associate Professor in Respiratory Immunology
National Heart & Lung Institute - Faculty of Medicine
Orcid identifier0000-0003-3052-2793 (opens in a new tab)
- Associate Professor in Respiratory ImmunologyNational Heart & Lung Institute - Faculty of Medicine
- Respiratory Infections, Medical School, St Mary's Campus, United Kingdom
BIO
Dr Ryan Thwaites is an Associate Professor in Respiratory Immunology within the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London.
Dr Thwaites obtained his PhD in 2015 in the field of innate immunology from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex. Following on from this work, he joined Professor Peter Openshaw and Professor Trevor Hansel as a postdoctoral research associate at the NHLI, before starting his independent research group in 2021.
Dr Thwaites' research focuses on the immune system of the human respiratory tract, incorporating studies of natural viral infections and 'challenge' studies in healthy adults. These challenge studies include non-infectious human models of innate immune activation (such as Toll-like receptor agonists), allergens and experimental human infection models with respiratory viruses such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), influenza, vaccine candidates, and SARS-CoV-2 (the cause of COVID-19). These studies furthered the development of non-invasive techniques for sampling the airways, including the development of nasosorption as a tool for studying respiratory viral infections in children. This work has challenged the existing dogmas of respiratory viral disease severity in children, developed the minimally-invasive endophenotyping of chronic respiratory diseases, and identified the role of neutrophils in governing susceptibility to respiratory viral infections.
During the COVID-19 pandemic Dr Thwaites worked within the ISARIC4C consortium to profile the immunopathogenic response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in cases of severe disease. These studies continued into monitoring the nature and longevity of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 after natural infection and vaccination. These studies sought to identify the elements of the immune response to infection that contributed to disease severity, versus those that contribute to clearing infection.
The Thwaites lab group continues to study the immune response to respiratory viral infections, with particular interests in the drivers of disease severity and the factors governing susceptibility to viral infections.
Dr Thwaites obtained his PhD in 2015 in the field of innate immunology from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex. Following on from this work, he joined Professor Peter Openshaw and Professor Trevor Hansel as a postdoctoral research associate at the NHLI, before starting his independent research group in 2021.
Dr Thwaites' research focuses on the immune system of the human respiratory tract, incorporating studies of natural viral infections and 'challenge' studies in healthy adults. These challenge studies include non-infectious human models of innate immune activation (such as Toll-like receptor agonists), allergens and experimental human infection models with respiratory viruses such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), influenza, vaccine candidates, and SARS-CoV-2 (the cause of COVID-19). These studies furthered the development of non-invasive techniques for sampling the airways, including the development of nasosorption as a tool for studying respiratory viral infections in children. This work has challenged the existing dogmas of respiratory viral disease severity in children, developed the minimally-invasive endophenotyping of chronic respiratory diseases, and identified the role of neutrophils in governing susceptibility to respiratory viral infections.
During the COVID-19 pandemic Dr Thwaites worked within the ISARIC4C consortium to profile the immunopathogenic response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in cases of severe disease. These studies continued into monitoring the nature and longevity of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 after natural infection and vaccination. These studies sought to identify the elements of the immune response to infection that contributed to disease severity, versus those that contribute to clearing infection.
The Thwaites lab group continues to study the immune response to respiratory viral infections, with particular interests in the drivers of disease severity and the factors governing susceptibility to viral infections.
FACULTY
- Faculty of Medicine
POSITION NAME
- Associate Professor in Respiratory Immunology