Dr. James Harker

Biography

James Harker completed his BSc in Biochemistry and an MRes in Molecular Mechanisms of Infection at Imperial College London. He subsequently undertook a PhD funded by the Medical Research Council in the lab of Professor Peter Openshaw at St Mary's Hospital, studying the immune response to Respiratory Syncytial Virus, focusing on the distinct immune responses elicited by the virus in infants versus adults and the role cytokines played in this process. Upon completing his PhD, he moved to the west coast of the U.S. to take a postdoctoral position at the University of California, San Diego, in the lab of Dr. Elina Zuniga, where he studied inhibitory immune pathways active in chronic viral infections. During this time, he made a novel observation about the high frequency subset of CD4 T cells known as T follicular helper cells during the late stages of chronic infection, with findings that translated to human infections such as HIV-1 and Hepatitis C virus. His research has identified that the cytokine interleukin-6 plays an essential role in promoting high affinity antibody production by B cells, critical for the development of anti-viral antibodies and viral containment. In 2011, he was awarded the Irvington Institute fellowship from the Cancer Research Institute to extend his research on the interplay of IL-6 family cytokines with T follicular helper cells. In 2013, he received the Sir Henry Dale Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society to establish a research group focused on investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in the generation of T follicular helper cells. He re-joined Imperial College London in October 2013 as a member of the Section on Leukocyte Biology at the National Heart and Lung Institute, where his current research focuses on the development of humoral immunity in response to respiratory viral infections and the effects of age on this process.

Research Interests