Research group of Clare Lloyd
Immune Cell Interactions in the Lung • Allergic Inflammation and Remodelling
Inflammation, Repair & Development, NHLI, Imperial College London
Lab news
Global Immunotalks 2025
“Immune-stromal cell interactions regulate pulmonary immunity ”
by Prof. Clare Lloyd
A single-cell spatial chart of the airway wall reveals proinflammatory cellular ecosystems and their interactions in health and asthma
We are excited to present our latest work published in the current issue of Nature Immunology where we describe an unprecedented view of the topography of the airway wall, revealing distinct, specific ecosystems within spatial niches to target for therapeutic intervention.
Women and Asthma
As part of our Wellcome funded public engagement project “Women and Asthma” we have now completed a series of community events in Skelmersdale, Tower Hamlets and Birmingham in collaboration with The Sewing Rooms, Stitches in Time and Craftspace.
Everything made at these community workshops will form part of a large-scale art installation that will return to all three sites in September 2025. More details to follow.
ICMI 2024
Clare, Régis, Ciara, Will and Minerva had a great time at the International Congress of Mucosal Immunology (ICMI) 2024 in Copenhagen in July. Congratulations to all of them on delivering superb talks and engaging posters. A great mix of science, networking and fun!
Looking forward to ICMI 2026!
New review out!
Clare and Sejal have written a review for Nature Immunology. Follow the link below to have a read!
Early-life respiratory infections and developmental immunity determine lifelong lung health
ACTERIA Early Career Prize Winner
BHF CRE Fellow Régis Joulia
We are incredibly proud of Régis for winning the 2023 ACTERIA Early Career Research Prize in Allergology, awarded by the European Federation of Immunological Societies.
Read more about what the prize entails and Régis’ exciting research that earned him the award on the ACTERIA website here.
Congrats again – very well deserved!
Our researchers – Making Waves
The National Heart and Lung Institute has recently launched a project to celebrate inspirational people across NHLI – and we are beyond proud to see our very own Simone and Maike among these.
What an amazing initiative to showcase who NHLI is today and to update the imagery across our campuses.
Simone has long been an inspiration to us all in the Lloyd lab and now you can be inspired by her, too – click here for her full story.
Also read more about how Maike and her fellow PhD student Salina are “Making Waves” here & check out their amazing podcast Elevat(her)!
New review on Th2 cells in asthma
Clare and James have written a review on Th2 cells in asthma for the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Breathing easy: Dopamine quenches the ILC2 flame
Franz and Clare have written a preview for Immunity highlighting a recent study by Cao et al. on the role of dopamine in restricting ILC2 response during asthma.
Follow the link below to read the original study.
Congratulations Dr Stölting!
Helen successfully defended her PhD thesis – and she’s got the German PhD hat to prove it!
We’re absolutely thrilled for you and very happy to keep you with us a little longer as a postdoc.
Another year – another BSI!
We had such a fun time at #BSI22, full of talks, posters & fascinating science, old friends & new, early morning runs & late night parties and generally a whole lot of fun!
Can’t wait for #BSI23 – see you in Belfast!
Craft a virus – Engaging the public
at Science Museum Lates
Christina, Helen, Shwetha, Simone and Will (plus Gesa from the Byrne lab and James Harker) joined the team of BSI Volunteers at the Science Museum Lates opening of “Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine” exhibition to chat to visitors about science, viruses & vaccines and fold some amazing origami viruses. Such great fun!
BHF Reflections of Research image competition
Judge’s Winner & Supporter’s Favourite
Congratulations to Régis for winning the British Heart Foundation’s annual image competition with this amazing image titled “A flare of stellar vessels”, showing blood vessels (in red), mast cells (in green) and pericytes (in blue) within a human lung.
Absolutely stunning and a prize well deserved!
EFIS Immunology Letters Lecture Award
Clare has recently been awarded the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS) Immunology Letters lecture award during the Irish Society for Immunology (ISI) annual meeting in Maynooth.
Congratulations Clare!
Distinguished Service Award
Congratulations to Clare for being recognised as Distinguished Service Award recipient by the Society for Mucosal Immunology during ICMI 2022.
We made the cover of Mucosal Immunology!
Beautiful image captured by Helen of paediatric bronchial epithelial cells infected with SARS-CoV2 at 5 days post-infection. SARS-CoV2 NP (magenta), MUC5AC (yellow) and KRT5 (cyan).
Stölting et al., Mucosal Immunology (2022)
Using Air-liquid Interface (ALI) cultures of primary bronchial epithelial cells from healthy children and adults, we investigated susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 and H1N1 infection, and epithelial antiviral immune responses according to age and virus.
Distinct airway epithelial immune responses after infection with SARS-CoV-2 compared to H1N1
We are pleased to announce the release of a new study from our collaborative team!
Stölting et al., Mucosal Immunology (2022)
Goodbye & Good Luck!
We are sad to see two of our much valued team members leave but both are embarking on new and exciting paths.
Charlotte is leaving us to start her NIHR Academic Clinical fellowship at Imperial in Histopathology, we wish her all the best and hope to see her in the lab again in the not too distant future!
Phebe is leaving us to start her Masters at Johns Hopkins as well as becoming a Fulbright Scholar! Huge Congratulations and we wish you the best of luck!
PhD Viva Success!
Congratulations Dr Albers!
Well deserved!
By Helen Stölting
Scientific Writing Competition
Congratulations Helen!
Helen showcased her creative writing skills when describing her current PhD project and came joint 3rd in the 2022 Scientific Writing Competition run by Imperial’s Graduate School.
NHLI Away Day!
A great day for the Lloyd Lab with excellent presentations from Kunyuan, Kornelija and Gesa. Extra congratulations to Gesa for winning a presentation prize!
Pseudomonas aeruginosa: a pathogen making itself at home
Helen and Clare have written a spotlight for Trends in Immunology highlighting a recent study by the Medzhitov lab. Follow the link below to read the original study.
Tissue remodeling by an opportunistic pathogen triggers allergic inflammation
Imperial People
Very proud to see Phebe featured in the Imperial People series.
“There’s such a welcoming group of people with a healthy attitude to lunch –and the idea that breaking bread builds communities.”
Elevat(Her) Podcast SE3 EP2: Leadership in Academia by our very own Clare Lloyd
We have long been in awe of our PhD student Maike and her colleague Salina and their amazing, truly inspiring podcast Elevat(Her), which empowers its listeners by discussing common barriers women face across all fields and providing real-life tips from high-achieving women.
It’s even more amazing to see our very own Clare featured in the most recent episode of the podcast, where she shares her journey to becoming the successful scientist and mentor she is today, the lessons she learned along the way and how she incorporates these in her leadership style. Find the episode on the Elevat(Her) website here or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Congratulations Helen & Gesa!
IRD was well represented at the recent European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Winter School 2022, by four PhD students, Gesa, Will, Lucia & Helen from the Lloyd, Saglani, Byrne and Harker labs. Unfortunately, the meeting couldn’t be held in person, but this didn’t stop Helen and Gesa winning prizes for their oral presentations, well done all!
Immuno-proteomic profiling reveals aberrant immune cell regulation in the airways of individuals with ongoing post-COVD-19 respiratory disease
Lloyd lab goes BSI21!
As always, we had an amazing time at the British Society for Immunology Congress 2021 in Edinburgh.
See you in Liverpool next year!
PhD Viva Success – Richard Hewitt
Congratulations to Richard for recently defending his thesis and successfully securing an NIHR Clinical Lecturer position at ICL. We are all thrilled for you!
Welcoming New Lab Members
The Lloyd lab is excited to welcome new team members as we begin a new Wellcome funded research programme.
Some new and old members of the team are pictured on the left as part of a recent photoshoot c/o Imperial Photography.
BSI London Immunology Group
Neuro-/Stromal-Immunology Meeting
Francis Crick Institute
Members of the Lloyd lab enjoyed attending this very informative meeting in person!
Congratulations Régis!
Régis Joulia recently started a BHF funded fellowship within the Lloyd lab, investigating the interactions between mast cells and pericytes in the context of lung inflammation. Régis presented some early data from this project and won the poster prize!
October 2021
New Review by Dr James Harker and Prof Clare Lloyd
Overlapping and distinct features of viral and allergen immunity in the human lung
April 2021
Review on the regulation of immune responses by airway epithelial cells
Check out the new review on airway epithelial immune responses by Richard Hewitt and Clare Lloyd!
Regulation of immune responses by the airway epithelial cell landscape
January 2021
Review on the respiratory microbiome and epithelial interactions
Read our new review about the lung microbiome and epithelial interactions by Rachele Invernizzi, Clare Lloyd and Phil Molyneaux here:
Respiratory microbiome and epithelial interactions shape immunity in the lungs
March 2020
William MacNee Award (ERS LSC Young Investigator Award)
We congratulate our PhD student Patricia Ogger who presented her PhD workat the ERS Lung Science Conference in Estoril, Portugal, and got selected for the William MacNee Award for the best young investigator presentation. Well done!
March 2020
European Respiratory Society
Lung Science Conference 2020
Three of our PhD students got the opportunity to attend the ERS Lung Science Conference “Metabolic alterations in lung ageing and disease” in Estoril, Portugal, supported by the ERS bursary scheme.
Gesa Albers and Rachele Invernizzi presented their research as a poster and Patricia Ogger presented in the Young Investigator session.
March 2020
Science Immunology Cover of the Year
This image titled “Amoeboid Prowling by Lung ILC2s” generated by our Postdoc Franz Puttur was selected as the Science Immunology Cover of the Year 2019.
Read the full paper on how pulmonary environmental cues drive group 2 innate lymphoid cell dynamics here:
Pulmonary environmental cues drive group 2 innate lymphoid cell dynamics in mice and humans
December 2019
British Society for Immunology Congress in Liverpool
This year’s BSI Congress has been a great outing for the Lloyd lab! Four of our PhD students received BSI travel bursaries (Gesa Albers, Helen Stölting, Nicoletta Bruno & Patricia Ogger) and presented posters/talks.
Our PhD student Gesa Albers won a Poster Prize for her poster presentation and Postdoc William Branchett won runner-up of the Brightsparks Postdoc competition. Well done both!
December 2019
BALR Young Investigator Award
Congratulations to our PhD student Patricia Ogger, who has been selected as the British Association for Lung Research (BALR) Young Investigator of the Year 2019 after presenting in the Young Investigator Award Symposium at the British Thoracic Society Winter Meeting!
December 2019
Opening The Window Of Immune Opportunity: Treating Childhood Asthma
Read the new review by Prof. Clare Lloyd and Prof. Sejal Saglani about treatment options of childhood asthma here:
Lloyd and Saglani, Trends in Immunology (2019)
September 2019
New paper out in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology!
The PhD work of our Postdoc William Branchett is finally out there!
Read all about the T-cell-myeloid IL-10 axis in a mouse model of Type-2-low asthma here:
August 2019
Julia Higgins Award
We are very proud to announce that Professor Clare Lloyd and Professor Sara Rankin have been awarded the Julia Higgins Award in recognition of their significant contribution to the support of academic women.
The Julia Higgins Medal and Awards are awarded annually to recognise individuals, groups, and departments that have made a significant contribution to the support of academic women at the College.
June 2019
Academy of Medical Sciences elects six new fellows from Imperial College London
Professor Lloyd said: “I am delighted and honoured to be elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences. It reflects the hard work and commitment of all the talented students, postdocs, fellows and colleagues I have been fortunate to work with over the years. I look forward to working with other Fellows to advance biomedical and health research, particularly helping early career researchers achieve their potential”.
Read the full article here: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/191158/academy-medical-sciences-elects-fellows-from/
May 2019
Graduation 2019
Congratulations to our Lloyd lab and IRD students who graduated today!
Faith Uwadiae and Sarah Allden were awarded their PhD’s today and we had two prizes awarded to our MSc Immunology students: The Richard Batchelor Prize to Simone Wolf for the best Master’s Thesis and the Dean’s prize to Helen Stoelting for best overall performance. Well done everyone!
May 2019
New paper out in Blue Journal!
Adam’s first senior author paper is out online this week:
The transferrin receptor CD71 delineates functionally distinct airway macrophage subsets during Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
Sarah J Allden et al., AJRCCM (2019)
May 2019
New Review out in Mucosal Immunology!
Regulatory cytokine function in the respiratory tract.
William J Branchett & Clare M Lloyd
Check it out here:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41385-019-0158-0
May 2019