Dr Suzanne M Hingley-Wilson

Suzie Hingley-Wilson is a postdoctoral Scientist whose primary aim is to investigate the host; pathogen interaction involved in Tuberculosis. She obtained her M. Sc. and Ph. D. (Macrophage: Mycobacterial Interactions) in Infection and Immunity in 1998 from Birmingham University Medical School, the latter being part of the Glaxo Action TB Initiative. Since then she has worked on tuberculosis in several world renowned laboratories, both in the UK and abroad. At the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, she was responsible for discovering a key virulence mechanism involved in the suppression of apoptosis by Mycobacterium tuberculosis through the construction and implementation of macrophage/M. tuberculosis microarrays. After moving to the New York laboratory of Professor Williams Jacobs Jr., she was involved in the elucidation of the key attenuating mechanism of the vaccine strain BCG through the use of innovative Mycobacterial genetic strategies designed by this laboratory.

Upon returning to the UK, Suzie joined the laboratory of Dr. Huw Williams at Imperial College London and, in 2006, was the recipient of the Wellcome Value in People Award. Research into the area of mycobacterial persistence is vital to the development of better control strategies for TB, and Suzie was part of an exciting project attempting to further elucidate the mechanisms involved in survival during a latent infection.

Since the publication of the genome of M. tuberculosis (Cole et al., 1998), it has become possible to begin to understand pathogenic mechanisms utilised by the tubercle bacillus, yet we are still a long way from fully understanding this complex pathogen. The use of mycobacterial genomics, specifically the construction and characterisation of mutants of M. tuberculosis, is a key strategy with which we can discover the means by which TB still remains the greatest infectious disease threat to mankind.

Suzie’s move to the Tuberculosis Research Unit here at Imperial College will enable her to combine her mycobacterial genetics expertise with her long standing interest in Immunology, in order to research the interface between the tubercle bacillus and the host response. The primary areas of research of Professor Ajit Lalvani and his Group include T cell Immunology, Clinical and epidemiological studies and they are world renowned for translating their research from bench to bedside. As part of the Group, Suzie is currently working towards the aim of gaining a clearer understanding of the host-pathogen interactions during a tuberculosis infection, and on developing better diagnostics and treatments with the Tuberculosis Research Unit.