Dr. Adrian Shepherd, Department of Biological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London
Tuesday 27th March, 1.00 p.m., Stacey Lecture Theatre 1
Around 20% of haemophilia A (HA) patients develop alloantibodies that inhibit the activity of replacement Factor VIII, the standard treatment for HA. Given the diverse genetic causes of HA – includes nearly 1,000 distinct missense mutations – together with the notorious complexity of the immune system, predicting which patients are at risk of developing inhibitors is a huge challenge. This talk will explain two contrasting approaches to inhibitor risk prediction: the first focuses on the boundary between self and non-self; the second involves using NGS antibody repertoire sequencing to detect the early signs of inhibitor development.