Anya Lissina
2006 to present: PhD student (and Research Assistant) at Cardiff University, working in the T cell modulation group headed by Prof. Andy Sewell and based in the Henry Wellcome Building (Heath Hospital campus). The focus of my PhD is the optimisation of interactions between the T cell receptor (TCR) and its antigen, with the eventual goal of targeting virally-induced and tumour-associated diseases, where the avidity of the interaction between the TCR and its target is often sub-optimal.
2002 to 2006: Attended University of Oxford (Balliol College), where I achieved a first class M. Biochem Honours degree. My final year options were in Virology, Molecular and Cellular Immunology and Human Disease. As part of the degree I completed a research project in the Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine (NDM), University of Oxford, under supervision of Prof. Andrew Sewell. The aim of this work was to study the role of the CD8 co-receptor in controlling T cell receptor crossreactivity, an important question that is being investigated in more detail by Linda Wooldridge and her laboratory.