GAVINS LAB

We unravel the complexities of immune responses in vascular inflammation to improve the treatment of human diseases 

About us

Inflammation

Our research tackles one of the most important drivers of disease:

The main focus of our laboratory is to elucidate and understand the complex roles played by immune cells in vascular inflammation and thrombosis, with the aim of designing tailored next generation therapeutics for inflammatory pathologies that temper inflammation and enhance resolution.

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Within the continuum of an inflammatory response, we study the role of the microvasculature as a dynamic interface between circulating blood cells and immune cells (such as neutrophils and platelets) and tissue. We focus on how circulating cells communicate, adhere, and migrate across the endothelium and the pathways by which these circulating and resident cells can render systemic inflammatory responses and alter local inflammatory and thrombotic states.

We are particularly interested in targeting the body’s own (i.e. endogenous) pro-resolving pathways such as the Annexin A1-Formyl Peptide Receptor (AnxA1-FPR) pathway. These endogenous pathways and their mediators help our bodies fight off infections, helping us to remain healthy. However, recent findings suggest that these endogenous pathways and mediators become defective in several diseases such as cardiovascular disease sepsis, and sickle cell disease. As such, we are focussing our efforts to further understand these endogenous pathways and mediators and why they become defective to help identify novel and innovative anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic therapeutics to address some of humanity’s greatest unmet needs in healthcare.  

Funders

None of our work would be possible without the generous support from our funders including:

In addition to public funders, we have established strategic partnerships with leading biotech and pharmaceutical industries with the common goal to accelerate the translation of our discoveries from the lab to the clinic. 

Interview with Professor Gavins

Professor Felicity N.E. Gavins is a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society and the recipient of a prestigious Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship. She is also the Director of The Centre for Inflammation Research and Translational Medicine (CIRTM) at Brunel University London. In this video, she discusses her research vision and activity focused on the identification of novel therapeutic strategies to reduce inflammation.

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Research Projects

Our research crosses the boundaries between Integrative Physiology and Pharmacology and uses multidisciplinary approaches to advance understanding of the vascular physiology and pathophysiology of inflammatory and related disorders, at the molecular, cellular, tissue and whole organism levels.

To achieve this goal, we use a technological toolbox compromising of various experimental in silico, in vitro and in vivo systems and imaging modalities (including confocal intravital microscopy, magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]; positron emission tomography [PET], and in-vivo imaging systems [IVIS]), coupled with multi-omics approaches to dissect the contribution of neutrophils and platelets in inflammation, thrombosis and vascular dysfunction.

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Modelling the pathogenesis

of COVID-19

Team

Felicity read Pharmacology at the University of Sunderland, where she also embarked on an industrial placement year at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. After completing her BSc (Hons), she studied for a Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Queen Mary University London, supported by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). Felicity was then awarded a BHF Junior Research Fellowship and in 2007 she joined Imperial College London to take up a Lectureship position in the Centre for Integrative Mammalian Physiology and Pharmacology. This was shortly followed by a senior lectureship and the appointment to Deputy Head of The Centre of Neurodegeneration & Neuroinflammation. In 2013 she accepted an academic position with tenure at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport (USA) and was appointed Director of The Small Animal Imaging Facility. Felicity joined Brunel University London in 2019 as Professor of Pharmacology and Royal Society Wolfson Fellow, and is also the Director of The Centre for Inflammation Research and Translational Medicine (CIRTM).

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Throughout her academic career, Felicity has worked with, and served on, numerous national and international research councils, medical charities and learned societies. She has published widely in her field and received a number of awards and honours for her work. She is a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society and of the Royal Society of Biology. Felicity continues to be actively involved in public and patient organizations which has been immensely instructive for her research. She is also dedicated to promoting mentoring and collaborative research, along with facilitating mentoring of post-doctoral research fellows and early-career investigators.

Shreya joined the Gavins Lab in 2021 as Research Assistant. She received a MSc in Immunology from King's College London in 2020. After that, she joined a Clinical Research Organisation for one year where she worked on several projects from GSK, J&J and Sanofi, leading the development of biological assays for the investigation of the disease phatophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis. Currently, Shreya is involved in several projects focused on inflammation biology.

Coming soon!

Coming soon!

Nora is an undergraduate student at Brunel University London studying for a degree in Boisciences. She joined the Gavins lab in 2020 to undertake a research placement as part of her degree programme. Nora is currently investigating the role of neutrophils in ageing.

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Every year, the Gavins Lab hosts several BSc and MSc interns carrying out their final research projects in inflammation biology.

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Kristinii Khan (Disease mechanisms and Therapeutics MSc)

Raayma Ifaah (Biomedical Sciences BSc)

Victoria Ostahii (Biomedical Sciences BSc)

Julius Kniuksta (Biomedical Sciences BSc)

Seyed Hasemi (Biomedical Sciences BSc)

Paola Islam (Biomedical Sciences BSc)

Saoussane-Nawal Grairi (Biomedical Sciences BSc)

Ahlam Yusuf (Biomedical Sciences BSc)

The Gavins Lab is at the centre of a wide global network of collaborations with leading scientists in the field:

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Professor Paul Kubes (University of `Calgary - School of Medicine, Canada)​

Professor Rafal Pawlinski (University of North Carolina - School of Medicine, USA)​

Dr. Neeraj Dhaun (Bean) (University of Edinburgh, UK)​

Emeritus Professor Robert P. Hebbel  (University of Minnesota, USA)

Professor Mauro Perretti (Queen Mary University of London, UK)

Professor Charles N. Serhan (Harvard Medical School, USA)

Professor Jesmond Dalli (Queen Mary University of London, UK)

Professor Ursula Rescher (Münster University, Gerrmany)

Dr. Luigi Margiotta-Casaluci (King's College London, UK)

Professor Rebecca H. Ritchie (Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia)

Professor Michael Hichkey (Monash University, Australia)

Professor Nicholas Long (Imperial College London, UK)

Professor Ikuo Tsunoda (Kindai University Faculty of Medicine, Japan)

To see a list of past lab members click here -->