Yvonne graduated with a PhD from the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Germany, and after a period researching innate immune mechanisms in skin autoinflammatory diseases at the LMU Munich she joined Denise Fitzgerald’s group at Queen’s University Belfast. Here, she identified regulatory T cells as key mediators of myelin regeneration. In 2014, she was awarded an Early Career Fellowship from The Leverhulme Trust and in 2016 she started her own group at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine. Her research interest focuses on immune mediated tissue regeneration with particular focus on innate immune mechanisms in myelin regeneration.

Favourite lab tool: All of them! I miss being in the lab!

Fun fact: As a postdoc Yvonne met 36 Nobel Prize winners for Physiology or Medicine at the 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting (see Photo Gallery)

Victor has clinical and research experience, and wants to help shape a better world. This goal has stemmed from his first degree in Veterinary Medicine (Nigeria), to MSc in Molecular Medicine (University of Essex) and now a PhD in neuro-immunology (Queen's University Belfast). His project aims to understand the role of AIM2 inflammasome in demyelination and remyelination.

Richard is a final year PhD student currently working in the Dombrowski lab group. Having completed an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences and a Master's degree in Parasitology and Pathogen Biology, his PhD project is looking at the role played by the inflammasome in multiple sclerosis.

Katherine carried out her PhD at Ulster University where she studied the regulation of cell cycle checkpoints. During her postdoc at the University of St Andrews and University of Birmingham she investigated the role of the helicase ChlR1 in DNA repair and its role in maintenance and segregation of the HPV (human papillomavirus) episome. 

Her current research looks at the role of inflammasomes in response to demyelination, using both in vivo and ex vivo models.

I am a final year biomedical science student at Queen’s University Belfast. I was grateful to be awarded an All-Island Multiple Sclerosis Research network studentship this summer. This is a great opportunity for me to experience a career in MS research, and to expand on my knowledge of neuroimmunology and MS. Here in Northern Ireland, we have the 2nd highest prevalence rates for MS in the world. MS is a debilitating disease affecting many families across the island, and there is a lack of regenerative treatment options available for patients, therefore, research is vitally important to find new treatment options. Over the summer I will be working in the Dombrowski labs in the Wellcome-Wolfson institute of Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast. We know that in MS damage occurs to the protective sheath that surrounds nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord. There are no therapeutics to restore that sheath and prevent further nerve damage.

The Dombrowski group researches immune mechanisms as potential therapeutic targets that help restore the protective sheath of these nerve fibres in MS. I chose to work on this project as I was interested in the role of the inflammasome in the innate immune response, particularly its function functions within autoimmune diseases. MS, although disputed, is studied as an immune mediated disease of the central nervous system and requires collaboration among neuroscientists and immunologists. This collaboration of MS researchers across the Island, all with the goal of supporting research that targets disease progression in MS, and a sense of community among those who are trying to improve the MS prognosis was a driving factor in applying for this studentship. Within my studentship I hope to gain experience of working as part of a scientific team, to enhance my lab technical skills and to understand more about the maintaining and running of an experimental lab.

My name is Emmy, I am a Swedish student currently at Queen's University Belfast completing my Biochemistry MSci. I am really looking forward to working with the Dombrowski team and spending this year researching MS.

I’m a masters student studying Experimental Medicine. After taking a break between my masters and my bachelors in Cellular and Molecular Medicine in Bristol, I’m really excited to work with the great team in the Dombrowski lab this year, researching the role of IL-18 in multiple sclerosis. 

Huda is a dentist who graduated from the University of Jordan. She is currently interested in understanding the role of inflammasomes in dental pulp diseases, and their potential role in pulp tissue regeneration.