Dr Irina Udalova

Dr Udalova obtained a first class Hons Degree in Math and Physics and PhD in Molecular Biology from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow. She then joined the University of Oxford on a Royal Society fellowship and undertook her postdoctoral training in the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics.

Dr Udalova accepted a lectureship in the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology in 2004. She was subsequently awarded a New Investigator Award by the Medical Research Council and has been funded further by them. In 2011 Dr Udalova was conferred the title of Reader. She is now the Head of the Genomics of Inflammation laboratory (lab page) and a scientific coordinator of the European research consortium Model-In (www.model-in.org). 

Her research focuses on understanding the molecular and genomic determinants of inflammation. She uses novel systematic and quantitative genomic technologies to address this issue. Current research areas include:

•  Global role of NF-kappaB and Interferon Regulatory Factors in regulation of inflammation.
•  Evolution of immune regulatory code.
•  Type III interferons in inflammation.

 The recent discovery of a master regulator of macrophage polarization by her laboratory (Nature Immunology 2011) has been featured in the Imperial College News, highlighted by Nature Reviews Immunology and disseminated via national and international news agencies.

 

Research in Dr Udalova's laboratory is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Arthritis Research UK (ARUK), the European Commission, the Royal Society, the American Asthma Foundation (AAF) and Industrial collaborators.

Dr Udalova is a recepient of New Investigator Award from the MRC, Early Excellence Award from the AAF, Young Investigator Award from the International Cytokine Society and Elsie Widdowson Award from Imperial College. She is a member of the Higher Education Academy and of various UK and International professional research bodies. Dr Udalova serves at the scientific advisory board for Ataxia UK.