Arya Ghate
Arya Ghate is an Oxford-Janssen Fellow in the Nuffield Department of Medicine. Here she discusses her experience and aspirations for the future of her research.
What is your research background?
During my PhD, I studied the interplay of complement system and macrophage polarization. I discovered that M1 macrophages are CR1/2+CR4+ while M2 macrophages exhibit CR1/2-CR4+ profile, which can be used to better define the polarization status of these cells. I also worked on deciphering the effect of complement anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a on macrophage polarization status.
What are you researching now?
As the postdoctoral fellow on the Cartography project, my work focuses on the mononuclear phagocyte populations in inflammatory diseases. With the current advanced single cell transcriptomics technology, we wish to decipher the inflammatory MNP populations involved in inflammatory gastroenterological diseases like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and coeliac disease.
What are your aspirations for the future of this research?
This research holds promise to help us understand the basic biology of inflammatory versus healthy macrophages as well as disease and tissue-specific phenotypic changes they undergo. Apart from deciphering inflammatory innate immune biology, this knowledge also has the potential for detection of possible drug targets for the therapy of the inflammatory diseases.