| Staff Details | ||||
|
||||
| Personal Information | ||
| Name | Mills, Kingston | |
| Main Department | Biochemistry | |
| College Title | Professor | |
| kingston.mills@tcd.ie | ||
| College Tel | +353 1 896 3573 | |
| Web | http://www.tcd.ie/Biochemistry/research/k_mills.php | |
| Fax | +353 1 677 2086 | |
| Representations |
| Details | Date |
| Member, Irish Branch Committee of the Society for General Microbiology. | 1994-1997 |
| Member, Immunology & Pathology Committee of the Health Research Board. | 1994-2000 |
| Irish representative at the International Union of Immunological Societies and the European Federation of Immunology Societies. | 1994-1998 |
| Member, Expert Committee on Blood Products and Vaccines of Irish Medicines Board. | 1996-2001 |
| Member, WHO International Committee on DNA Vaccines. | 1996-present |
| Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies |
| Details | Date From | Date To |
| American Society for Microbiology | ||
| International Society for Mucosal Immunology | ||
| British Society for Immunology | ||
| British and Irish Society for General Microbiology | ||
| Biochemical Society | ||
| More Memberships>>> | ||
| Awards and Honours | |
| Award | Date |
| Elected to Fellowship of Trinity College Dublin | 2004 |
| Elected to fellowship of The Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland | 1994 |
| Royal Irish Academy Award in Biochemistry | 2004 |
| Inaugural Annual Award of Irish Society for Immunology | 2002 |
| Awarded Graves Medal and present the 39th Annual Graves Lecture | 1999 |
| More Awards and Honours>>> | |
| Languages |
| Language | Skill Reading | Skill Writing | Skill Speaking |
| English | Fluent | Fluent | Fluent |
| Description of Research Interests |
| A major interest of my research is to understand the effector immune responses that protect us against infection and cancer and how, when uncontrolled this can lead to autoimmune diseases. I am particularly interested the factors that affect the induction, of the distinct subpopulations of CD4+ T cells, termed Th1, Th2 and T regulatory (Treg) and Th17 cells, and the role of innate immune system, in particular dendritic cells, in directing T cell responses. The work has direct application to the development of new or improved vaccines and includes studies on Bordetella pertussis, Fasciola hepatica, influenza virus and hepatitis C virus. In the last number of years my group has focused on immune regulation and immune modulation by pathogens. This has been made possible through PI and Strategic research cluster (SRC) awards from Science Foundation Ireland. The aims are to examine the role of pathogen-derived molecules in modulating immune responses, with particular reference to the induction, regulation and function of T cell subtypes and the induction and control of inflammatory responses. Our hypothesis is that the study of immunomodulation by microbial pathogens is an ideal approach to understand mechanisms of protective immunity and immunoregulation in vivo and will allow the identification and characterization of novel immunomodulatory molecules with potential as therapies for immune mediated diseases. We have identified molecules capable of specifically suppressing or enhancing immune response that regulate or mediate certain human diseases. The application of this research is the development of new or improved vaccines against infectious diseases, active immunotherapeutics against cancer and anti-inflammatory therapeutics against autoimmune diseases. A recent SFI PI award on ‘the role of regulatory T cell control of pathogenic and effector T cells and their manipulation as potential therapies for human disease’ is focused on the interface between innate and adaptive immunity, specifically how we can manipulate dendritic cells to selectively alter the balance of regulatory (Treg) versus effector (Th1 or Th2) or pathogenic (Th17). Our aim is to design new approaches to treat autoimmunity by enhancing induction of Treg which suppress Th17 cells and to develop new infectious diseases vaccines and cancer immunotherapeutics by enhancing induction of Th1 and Th2 cells, while inhibiting Treg cells. |
| Research Interests | |||
| ACELLULAR PERTUSSIS-VACCINE | ACTIVATION PATHWAY | ANTIGEN | Autoimmune Diseases (Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis) |
| BACTERIAL | BACTERIAL INFECTION | BACTERIAL LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE | BACTERIAL TOXINS |
| BIODEGRADABLE MICROPARTICLE | BLOOD MONONUCLEAR-CELLS | BORDETELLA PERTUSSIS | CD4+ T CELLS |
| CELL-MEDIATED-IMMUNITY | CHOLERA-TOXIN | CYCLIC-AMP | CYTOKINE PRODUCTION |
| CYTOKINES | DEMYELINATION | ENDOTOXIN | EXPERIMENTAL AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS |
| FILAMENTOUS HEMAGGLUTININ | GROWTH-FACTOR-BETA | HOST-DEFENSE | HUMAN DENDRITIC CELLS |
| HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS | IL-1 | IL-1 RECEPTOR | IL-1/MAP KINASES |
| IL-10 | IL-12 | IL-4 | IMMUNE-RESPONSES |
| IMMUNOSUPPRESSION | INFLAMMATION | INTERFERON-GAMMA | INTERLEUKIN-1 |
| INTERLEUKIN-1 BETA | INTERLEUKIN-1 RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST | INTERLEUKIN-1 RECEPTORS | INTERLEUKIN-1-BETA |
| INTERLEUKIN-1-BETA MESSENGER-RNA | INTERLEUKIN-2 | Immunotherapies for Cancer | Infectious Diseases |
| LEUKOCYTE ADHESION MOLECULES | LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE | MACROPHAGES | MAP KINASE |
| MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES | MONOCYTE | MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS | MURINE MACROPHAGES |
| MYELIN BASIC-PROTEIN | NF-KAPPA-B | NITRIC-OXIDE | NITRIC-OXIDE SYNTHASE |
| PHOSPHORYLATION | PROTEINS | SEIZURE | SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION |
| SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION PATHWAYS | SURFACE PROTEIN | T LYMPHOCYTES | T-CELL ACTIVATION |
| T-CELLS | T-LYMPHOCYTE ACTIVATION | TH1 CELL | TH1 CELLS |
| TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR | VACCINATION | VIRAL-INFECTIONS | Vaccines |
| Research Projects | |
| Project title | The local immune response to a respiratory pathogen |
| Summary | €38,000 |
| Funding Agency | Health Research Board project grant |
| Programme | |
| Type of Project | |
| Date from | 1993 |
| Date to | 1996 |
| Person Months | |
| Project title | Investigations on the mechanism of immunity to B. pertussis in a murine model |
| Summary | €283,000 |
| Funding Agency | Wellcome Trust project grant |
| Programme | |
| Type of Project | |
| Date from | 1994 |
| Date to | 1997 |
| Person Months | |
| Project title | Programme EVA "Vaccine Delivery systems for the selective induction of cellular immune responses with candidate HIV vaccines |
| Summary | €38,000 |
| Funding Agency | EU Biomed-1 |
| Programme | |
| Type of Project | |
| Date from | 1994 |
| Date to | 1996 |
| Person Months | |
| Project title | T cell responses to Bordetella pertussis in children and the development of an acellular pertussis vaccine |
| Summary | €38,000 |
| Funding Agency | The Health Research Board project grant |
| Programme | |
| Type of Project | |
| Date from | 1994 |
| Date to | 1997 |
| Person Months | |
| Project title | Cellular immune responses to HIV |
| Summary | Support for Postdoctoral fellow plus €13,000 for consumables costs |
| Funding Agency | Commonwealth AIDS Research Grants |
| Programme | |
| Type of Project | |
| Date from | 1994 |
| Date to | 1995 |
| Person Months | |
| More Research Projects>>> | |
| Publications |
| Peer Reviewed |
| Browne TC, McQuillan K, McManus RM, O'Reilly JA, Mills KH, Lynch MA, IFN-¿ Production by Amyloid ß-Specific Th1 Cells Promotes Microglial Activation and Increases Plaque Burden in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease., Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950), 190, (5), 2013, p2241-51 DOI |
|
| Jones SA, Mills KH, Harris J., Autophagy and inflammatory diseases., Immunology and Cell Biology, 91, (3), 2013, p250-258 DOI |
|
| Marshall NA, Galvin KC, Corcoran AM, Boon L, Higgs R, Mills KH, Immunotherapy with PI3K inhibitor and Toll-like receptor agonist induces IFN-ã+IL-17+ polyfunctional T-cells that mediate rejection of murine tumors, Cancer Research, 72, (3), 2012, p581-591 Url DOI |
|
| Eve Draper, Clare M. Reynolds, Mary Canavan, Kingston H. Mills, Christine E. Loscher, and Helen M. Roche, Omega-3 fatty acids attenuate dendritic cell function via NF-kappa B independent of PPAR gamma, Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 22, (8), 2011, p784-790 Url TARA - Full Text DOI |
|
| Mills KH, TLR-dependent T cell activation in autoimmunity., Nature Reviews Immunology, 11, (12), 2011, p807-22 TARA - Full Text | |
| More Publications>>> | |
Log in to the TCD Portal |
| Contact:helpdesk@tcd.ie Last Updated:26-MAY-2013 |
| back to top | ||