
Dr Anu Goenka
BSc, MBChB, DFSRH, DTM&H, MRCGP, MRCPCH, PGDipPID, PhD, FHEA
Current positions
Clinical Lecturer
School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Contact
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Research interests
I am a Clinical Lecturer at Bristol Children’s Vaccine Centre and the School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Immunology & Infectious Diseases at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. I am also a NIHR CRN West of England Research Scholar.
My research explores how we can design new and better vaccines through understanding the function of immune cells that reside in the respiratory tract. I developed my interest in respiratory immunity while studying macrophage function in the laboratory of Professor Tracy Hussell during my PhD which was funded by fellowships from the Medical Research Council and European Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). Now, I am interested in how we can develop a vaccine for group A Streptococcus (GAS) by profiling the antigen-specific response of respiratory lymphoid tissue. GAS infection is a neglected global disease that not only causes sore throat, but also kills more than half a million people every year by causing invasive infections and rheumatic heart disease.
My current research in group A Streptococcus vaccine antigen discovery is funded by grants from Above and Beyond and ESPID. I am also undertaking COVID-19 research funded by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute and the Grand Appeal.
I also contribute to both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. Currently, I chair the ESPID Walter Marget Workshop as well as co-chair RCPCH Child Health in Low-Resource Settings.
Publications
Selected publications
15/09/2020Neutrophil dysfunction triggers inflammatory bowel disease in G6PC3 deficiency
Journal of Leukocyte Biology
Infant alveolar macrophages are unable to effectively contain Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Frontiers in Immunology
Young infants exhibit robust functional antibody responses and restrained IFN-γ production to SARS-CoV-2
Cell Reports Medicine
Recent publications
15/03/2023Evaluation and deployment of isotype-specific salivary antibody assays for detecting previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adults
Communications Medicine
Prolonged T-cell activation and long COVID symptoms independently associate with severe COVID-19 at 3 months
eLife
The Multifaceted Syndromic Primary Immunodeficiencies in Children
Journal of Clinical Medicine
Evaluation of isotype specific salivary antibody assays for detecting previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adults
Bacillus Calmette–Guérin-Induced Human Mast Cell Activation Relies on IL-33 Priming
International Journal of Molecular Sciences