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Professor Kingston Mills

Professor of Experimental Immunology (Biochemistry)
Director TBSI (Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute)
      
Profile Photo

Professor Kingston Mills

Professor of Experimental Immunology (Biochemistry)

 Kingston.Mills@tcd.ie

 3531896 3573

Director TBSI (Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute)


Kingston Mills is Professor of Experimental Immunology, School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College Dublin (TCD). He is Academic Director of Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI) and TCD Research Theme Champion for Immunology, Inflammation and Infection. He is Co-lead on the Trinity COVID-19 Research hub. He is a graduate of TCD and trained at as a Postdoctoral Fellow at University College London and the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill (now the Crick Institute), London, before joining the Scientific Staff of NIBSC, Herts, UK. He returned to Ireland in 1993 to take up an academic position at Maynooth University. He was appointed to a Personal Chair at Trinity College Dublin in 2001 and was Head of the School of Biochemistry and Immunology from 2008-2011. He heads an active research team focusing on T cells in infection and autoimmunity. He is co-founder of Opsona Therapeutics, TriMod Therapeutics and Parvalis Tx, biotech companies focused on developing immunotherapeutics for inflammatory diseases and cancer.
  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   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   Immunotherapies for Cancer   Infectious Diseases   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   LEUKOCYTE ADHESION MOLECULES   LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE   MACROPHAGES   MAP KINASE   MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES   MONOCYTE   MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS   MURINE MACROPHAGES   MYELIN BASIC-PROTEIN   NF-KAPPA-B   NITRIC-OXIDE   PHOSPHORYLATION   PROTEINS   SEIZURE   SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION   SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION PATHWAYS   SURFACE PROTEIN   T LYMPHOCYTES   T-CELL ACTIVATION   T-CELLS   TH1 CELL   TH1 CELLS   T-LYMPHOCYTE ACTIVATION   TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR   VACCINATION   Vaccines   VIRAL-INFECTIONS
Project Title
 The local immune response to a respiratory pathogen
From
1993
To
1996
Summary
€38,000
Funding Agency
Health Research Board project grant
Project Title
 Investigations on the mechanism of immunity to B. pertussis in a murine model
From
1994
To
1997
Summary
€283,000
Funding Agency
Wellcome Trust project grant
Project Title
 Programme EVA "Vaccine Delivery systems for the selective induction of cellular immune responses with candidate HIV vaccines
From
1994
To
1996
Summary
€38,000
Funding Agency
EU Biomed-1
Project Title
 T cell responses to Bordetella pertussis in children and the development of an acellular pertussis vaccine
From
1994
To
1997
Summary
€38,000
Funding Agency
The Health Research Board project grant
Project Title
 Cellular immune responses to HIV
From
1994
To
1995
Summary
Support for Postdoctoral fellow plus €13,000 for consumables costs
Funding Agency
Commonwealth AIDS Research Grants

Page 1 of 11
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. 1996-2000
Member, Life Sciences / Biotechnology Panel, Enterprise Ireland Strategic and Basic Research Grant schemes. 1996-2002
Member, National Committee for Biochemistry of the Royal Irish Academy. 1997-2001
Member, Editorial Board of European Federation of Microbiology Societies, Immunology and Medical Microbiology. 1998-2013
Member, Infection & Immunity Committee of British Society for Immunology. 1998-present
Member, World Health Organization Working Group on Pertussis Vaccines. 1998-2000
Member of Microbiology and Mechanisms of Infectious Disease and Host Defence Committee of the Health Research Board. 2001-
Member expert committee on Medical Devices, Irish Medicines Board. 2001-
Member of Board of Management of the Adelaide Hospital of The Adelaide, Meath and National Children's Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin. 2002-
Member of Scientific Advisory Committee of Science Foundation Ireland. 2002-2003
Chairman of Infection & Immunity Group of the British Society for Immunology. 2002-
Chair an Expert Group established by the Minister for Health and Children to examine processes to ensure continuing quality of vaccine products. 2003
Member of Life Science Committee of Royal Irish Academy. 2003-2004
Panel Chairman, Science Foundation Ireland Basic Research Grants. 2004
Member of the Wellcome Trust Immunology and Infectious Disease Committee 2003-2006
Member of the Editorial Board of Clinical and Experimental Immunology 2005-2013
Associate Editor. The Journal of Immunology 2007-2011
Member of the Editorial Board. Immunology and Cell Biology 2013-
Section Editor, The Journal of Immunology 2012-present
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
Details Date From Date To
American Association of Immunologists 2006-
American Society for Microbiology
International Society for Mucosal Immunology
British Society for Immunology
British and Irish Society for General Microbiology
Biochemical Society
Irish Research Scientists Association
Irish Society for Immunology
Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland
Institute of Biology of Ireland
Member, UK MRC Committee on Vaccines & Immunization Procedures 1991 1995
Member, Irish Branch Committee of the Society for General Microbiology 1994 1997
Member, Irish Area Committee of The Biochemical Society. 1998 2001
Connolly, Sarah A. and Walsh, Aaron and Ledwith, Anna E. and McCarthy, Karen N. and O'Rourke, Sinead A. and Murphy, Dearbhla M. and Blasinska, Anna and Dunne, Aisling and Fletcher, Jean M. and Mills, Kingston H.G. and McManus, Ross and Sheedy, Frederick J. and Basdeo, Sharee A., BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination attenuates innate immune function in humans, Clinical Immunology, 276, 2025, Notes: [Cited by: 0], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
O'Neill, Eoin and Curham, Lucy and Ní Chasaide, Caitlín and O'Brien, Síofra and McManus, Gavin and Moran, Barry and Rubin, Keith and Glazer, Steven and Lynch, Marina A. and Mills, Kingston H.G., Neonatal infection with Bordetella pertussis promotes autism-like phenotypes in mice, iScience, 28, (1), 2025, Notes: [Cited by: 2; All Open Access, Green Open Access], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Mills, Kingston H. G., IL-17-secreting γΎ T-cell-driven Siglec-F+ neutrophils mediate lung pathology in emphysema, Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 2025, Notes: [Cited by: 0], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Ní Chasaide, Caitlín and Schmitt, Pauline and Diallo, Béré K. and Borkner, Lisa and Leane, Charlotte M. and Jazayeri, Seyed Davoud and Udayan, Sreeram and O'Neill, Eoin and Curham, Lucy M. and Moran, Barry and Wilk, Mieszko M. and Mills, Kingston H. G., Acellular Pertussis Vaccines Induce CD8+ and CD4+ Regulatory T Cells That Suppress Protective Tissue-Resident Memory CD4+ T Cells, in Part via IL-10, European Journal of Immunology, 55, (7), 2025, Notes: [Cited by: 0], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
McCarthy KN, Hone S, McLoughlin RM, Mills KHG., IL-17 and IFN-"-producing respiratory tissue resident memory CD4"T cells persist for decades in adults immunized as children with whole cell pertussis vaccines., The Journal of infectious diseases, 2024, pjiae034 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Leane, C.M. and Sutton, C.E. and Moran, B. and Mills, K.H.G., PD-1 regulation of pathogenic IL-17-secreting γΎ T cells in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, European Journal of Immunology, 2024, Notes: [cited By 0], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Kelly AM, McCarthy KN, Claxton TJ, Carlile SR, O'Brien EC, Vozza EG, Mills KH, McLoughlin RM., IL-10 inhibition during immunization improves vaccine-induced protection against Staphylococcus aureus infection., JCI insight, 9, (13), 2024, pe178216 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Pinto, M.V. and Barkoff, A.-M. and Bibi, S. and Knuutila, A. and TerÀsjÀrvi, J. and Clutterbuck, E. and Gimenez-Fourage, S. and Pagnon, A. and van Gaans-van den Brink, J.A.M. and Corbiere, V. and De Montfort, A. and Saso, A. and Jobe, H. and Roetynck, S. and Kampmann, B. and Simonetti, E. and Diavatopoulos, D. and Lambert, E.E. and Mertsola, J. and Blanc, P. and van Els, C.A.C.M. and Kelly, D. and He, Q. and Diavatopoulos, D.A. and Mills, K.H.G. and Kester, K.E. and Silerova, M. and Heininger, U. and van Dongen, J.J.M. and van der Most, R.G. and Huijnen, M.A. and Siena, E. and Mielcarek, N. and Ochs, M.M. and Denoël, P. and Berbers, G. and Buisman, A.M. and de Jonge, M.I. and Fenwick, C. and Gorringe, A. and Le Grand, R. and Locht, C. and Mascart, F. and Orfao, A. and Pantaleo, G. and Pollard, A.J. and Preston, A. and Read, R. and Sebo, P. and van Els, C. and Vecerek, B. and Londoño-Hayes, P. and de Groot, R., A novel whole blood assay to quantify the release of T cell associated cytokines in response to Bordetella pertussis antigens, Journal of Immunological Methods, 534, (113758), 2024, Notes: [cited By 0], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Douglas, A. and Stevens, B. and Rendas, M. and Kane, H. and Lynch, E. and Kunkemoeller, B. and Wessendorf-Rodriguez, K. and Day, E.A. and Sutton, C. and Brennan, M. and O†Brien, K. and Kohlgruber, A.C. and Prendeville, H. and Garza, A.E. and O†Neill, L.A.J. and Mills, K.H.G. and Metallo, C.M. and Veiga-Fernandes, H. and Lynch, L., Rhythmic IL-17 production by γΎ T cells maintains adipose de novo lipogenesis, Nature, 2024, Notes: [cited By 1], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Mills, K.H.G., IL-17 and IL-17-producing cells in protection versus pathology, Nature Reviews Immunology, 2023, p38-54 , Notes: [cited By 1], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
  

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Award Date
SFI Researcher of the Year 2020
Provost Innovation award 2020
Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland Doctor award in Respiratory Medicine and best overall paper 2014
Laboratory Scientist of the year and Laboratory of the year, Irish Lab awards 2013
Elected to Fellowship of Trinity College Dublin 2004
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
Elected to membership of the Institute of Biology of Ireland 1996
Elected Fellow of The Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland 1994
Elected to fellowship of The Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland 1994
Merit award of rapid promotion to Senior Scientist scale 1991
Young scientist award from International Union of Immunology Societies 1986
Awarded fellowship by International Network of Immunology 1987
Awarded EURATOM travelling fellowship 1977
Elected Student of the year, Wilson's Hospital, Secondary School 1972
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.