Professor Kai-Michael Toellner

Supervisor Details

Contact Details

Professor Kai-Michael Toellner

Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham

Scientific Background

Research Interests

Immunology.

Research activity

Selection of B cells in germinal centres. Most antibody responses involve affinity maturation. This process occurs in germinal centres (GCs), microanatomical structures in lymphoid tissues where B lymphocytes mutate and mature their immunoglobulin V-genes. Affinity maturation is thought to be achieved by Darwinian evolution with repeated cycles of Ig hypermutation followed by B cell interaction with the antigen that is on follicular dendritic cells. This is then followed by stimulation from follicular T helper cells. We are studying how antigen, antibodies, T cells and other accessory cells in germinal centre interact with B cells and provide stimulation or barriers that lead to selection of higher affinity B cells. Main focus of this work is to understand the action of vaccines, and to understand processes that become defunctional during ageing.
Regulation of immunoglobulin class switching and plasma cell differentiation. B cells not only mutate their antibody genes after contact with antigen, they also rearrange these genes to produce antibody switch variants with same specificity, but different function. This process is called immunoglobulin class switching and happens in B cells at different stages and in different microanatomical compartments during an antibody response. The end product of B cell differentiation is the plasma cell – a cellular factory specialised in producing large amounts of antibody. Similar microenvironments and signals to the ones that induce immunoglobulin class switching also regulate plasma cell differentiation. We are trying to understand the molecular signals that lead to these processes and the cellular interactions that provide signals for immunoglobulin class switching or plasma cell differentiation.
T helper lymphocyte differentiation. T helper cells are the main cells that interact with B cells and regulate antibody responses, having a role not only in the initiation of B cell differentiation, but also for long term immunological memory. We are interested in the differentiation of specialized subsets of T cells regulating B cell differentiation, and in the development and distribution of memory T cells throughout different microanatomical compartments.

Scientific Inspiration

Curiosity.

Research Groups

Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy

Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Centre (CIIC)

Supervision Style

In three words or phrases: My best students are those who prove me wrong.

Provision of Training

Students will spend time initially acquiring background expertise on the science of the project by independent study and lab discussions. Students will be trained in a broad range of techniques and closely guided through performance and interpretation of the initial experiments. At later stages students are expected to independently broaden their repertoire on techniques used to tackle questions, and independently develop new hypotheses and experiments. These will be developed in regular discussion with supervisors, postdocs, and other PhD students during weekly meetings and seminars.

I expect the student to visit and present their project at national meetings, and in the 2^nd/3^rdyear at international conferences.

Progression Monitoring and Management

We will meet in weekly lab meetings and journal clubs. Larger sets of data and longer-term strategy will be discussed in 1:1 or small group meetings. Day-to-day guidance for laboratory techniques, data analysis will be provided by postdoctoral scientists and experienced PhD students. At later stages we will expect the student to develop the project independently in discussion with the supervisory team. Further, we will have formal monthly and annual meetings about progress monitoring and longer-term planning.

Communication

I try to spend most of my time on campus, my door is always open and I am always happy to be interrupted by a student, whether it is about general advice, or about interpreting and discussing data. The team have work and lab spaces close to each other, giving ample opportunity for communication and chat within the team. Several other teams working on related research questions of similar techniques are on the floor, giving many opportunities for help and discussions with others doing similar work. We also communicate via email groups, Teams groups to exchange data, presentations and manuscripts in progress, and a WhatsApp group for rapid group messaging.

Additionally, we meet and discuss in weekly group lab meetings, weekly journal clubs, and weekly Institute progress meetings.

PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me:

In a group meeting

At least once per week

In year 1 of PhD study

At least once per month

In year 2 of PhD study

At least once per month

In year 3 of PhD study

At least once per month

The meetings will be face to face and I am usually contactable for an instant response (if required) on every working day.

Working Pattern

The timing of work in my lab is completely flexible, and (other than attending pre-arranged meetings), I expect students to manage their own time.

Notice Period for Feedback

I need at least 1 week’s notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5000 words.

MIBTP Project Details

Professor Kai-Michael Toellner is supervising no projects this year.