Exploring how the germinal centre cellular programme promotes efficient affinity maturation

Oliver is a cellular immunologist based at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford. His research is aimed at determining some of the biological mechanisms employed by germinal centre B cells for promoting efficient antibody affinity maturation. Germinal centres are highly-dynamic, tightly-regulated environments in which B cells repeatedly mutate their immunoglobulin genes and undergo selection based upon the encoded membrane antibody’s ability to bind and capture antigen. Oliver aims to learn how these processes are controlled. It is hoped that advances in this field will facilitate the rational design of better vaccines and immunotherapies.