Mengni Shen (4th Year DPhil Student)

Ana Kisovar (1st Year DPhil Student)

Yifan Wang (1st Year DPhil Student)

Former group members

Dr Helena Rodriguez-Caro

Biography

I completed my undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Leeds, then moved to the University of Oxford to the Human Immunology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, and obtained a DPhil working with Professors Xiaoning Xu and Gavin Screaton. I joined the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2007, to work on Immunology in Pre-eclampsia with Professors Ian Sargent and Chris Redman. My work focused on studying placental derived factors that contribute to maternal systemic inflammatory changes in pregnancy and pre-eclampsia. A key aspect of this work was studying the interactions between syncytiotrophoblast microvesicles and exosomes with immune cells in pregnancy.

I research immunity in the female reproductive tract, with specific focus on understanding immunological events that lead to the establishment of pregnancy. The endometrium is a highly dynamic mucosal tissue and immune cells not only provide host responses against pathogens, but they are essential for embryo implantation, placentation and pregnancy success.

Endometrial immune cells and their role in recurrent pregnancy loss. 

We have identified changes to immune cell subpopulations in RPL, using RNA sequencing, flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry to investigate transcriptomic and phenotypic changes. Our work on Treg in RPL is in pre-print here https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.22.21255931v1

The PIP Study - Pre- IVF Immune Profiling Study (PIP)

The immune cellular landscape of peri-implantation endometrium remains poorly defined in Recurrent Implantation Failure (RIF), Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (RPL) and subfertility.  This study aims to define normality and identify changes to T, B, NK, NKT cellular proportions in women suffering from these pathologies. 

Immune cell responses in subfertile women who suffer from endometriosis.

Women who suffer form endometriosis have both an increased risk of autoimmunity and fertility issues, we are studying the peri-implantation endometrium in women with endometriosis, to identify if differences in the immune cells exist in patients. 

I welcome speculative enquiries to join my group, in the first instance please email