A Seminar by Professor Richard Pleass. Department of Tropical Disease Biology, LSTM
Richard completed a Parasitology degree at Kings College London and a PhD on the immunology of nematodes at Imperial College. He moved with his supervisor, Professor Ted Bianco to LSTM in 1994. He then undertook two postdocs with Professor Jenny Woof at the University of Dundee working on IgM where he was awarded a Wellcome Trust Training fellowship to develop the first fully human antibodies against malaria. This work was undertaken in collaboration with Dr Tony Holder at Mill Hill. In 2003 he moved to a lectureship at the University of Nottingham's Institute of Genetics where he secured 5yr MRC Career Development and EU Framework 6 Awards to continue his work on antibodies.
In 2010 he moved to a chair at LSTM in the Department of Tropical Disease Biology where he is currently funded by the Wellcome Trust to develop IVIG replacements to treat chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathies including Guillain-Barre syndrome (more in the talk). His work was recognised with 2013 Universal Biotech Innovation Prize awarded in Paris. Much of Richard's work is aimed at translating novel antibody structures to new medicines and vaccines.