Detecting Death and Damage in vivo; Using Drosophila to Understand Innate Immune Cell Priming

The correct regulation of the inflammatory response is critical to maintaining human health. Nowhere has this been more clearly highlighted than with the ongoing COVID-19 global health emergency, where overwhelming and modifiable inflammation is responsible for substantial mortality. The need for a deeper understanding of the biology that underpins inflammation has never been greater. Immune cells play an important role in the upkeep and repair of our bodies, They defend against infection and disease and when we are wounded they raise an effective inflammatory response rapidly migrating to sites of damage where they detect, ingest and degrade debris, dying cells and invading pathogens. Whilst this is critical to prevent infection too much of a response can cause or worsen a wide range of human diseases. This project harnesses the powerful genetic tools and live imaging potential of the fruitfly Drosophila to study inflammation live within a whole organism.