Aberystwyth Scientist Awarded Prestigious Fellowship to Explore ‘Trained Immunity’ in Cattle
Aberystwyth University researcher Dr Amanda Gibson is leading a ground breaking study to understand how the immune systems of livestock can be “trained” to respond more effectively to disease. Her new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Leaders Fellowship will explore how Mycobacterium bovis BCG, could boost general immunity in cattle.
Dr Gibson, a molecular immunologist based in the Centre of Excellence for Bovine Tuberculosis, Aberystwyth, will examine a process known as trained immunity —in which innate immune cells “remember” past infections and respond faster to future threats, even from different pathogens.
“The best-known inducer of trained immunity is the BCG vaccine,” Dr Gibson explains. “In humans, BCG doesn’t just protect against tuberculosis; it’s been shown to improve overall health and resilience to other infections[1][2][3][4], particularly in the neonatal period. My fellowship will test whether similar effects occur in cattle and how this could benefit animal health and productivity.”
Understanding Immune Memory Beyond Antibodies
For decades, scientists believed that only adaptive immune cells — such as T and B cells — were capable of remembering past infections. But recent research has shown that innate cells, including monocytes and macrophages, can also undergo lasting epigenetic and metabolic changes after exposure to a pathogen or vaccine.
Dr Gibson’s research will use advanced molecular tools such as ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq to create a molecular map of how these cells change following vaccination in partnership with The Roslin Institute, SRUC and UCD. Combined with RNAseq data, the work will identify which genes become more accessible and how that might enhance the immune responses in cattle.
Working with partners at INRAe (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment), her team will also use innovative ex vivo lung models, where precision-cut slices of living lung tissue allow scientists to observe how immune cells behave in their natural environment. “You can actually see the cilia of the lung cells moving under the microscope,” she says. “It’s an amazing way to test whether trained immune responses help control respiratory viruses.”
Real-World Impact on Animal Health
Alongside the laboratory studies, Dr Gibson’s fellowship will draw on data from the M. bovis BCG field trial in cattle, run by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). In collaboration with APHA, the project will investigate whether vaccination leads to improved productivity or reduced antibiotic use — indicators of stronger natural immunity.
“If trained immunity makes cattle more resilient to everyday infections, we could see fewer antibiotics being needed,” says Dr Gibson. “That would be a real win for both animal welfare and antimicrobial stewardship.”
Ultimately, the findings could inform new strategies for vaccine development, helping scientists design immune boosters that provide broad protection without interfering with tuberculosis testing.
Connecting Science and Policy
A key feature of the fellowship is its focus on translating research into practice. Dr Gibson will collaborate with Arwain DGC, Wales’s antimicrobial stewardship network, to host workshops with farmers, veterinarians, and policymakers, exploring the social and practical barriers to vaccine adoption.
In the later stages of the fellowship, she will also spend several months with the Chief Veterinary Officer’s policy team for Wales, gaining first-hand insight into how scientific evidence shapes national animal health policy.
“It’s not enough to make discoveries in the lab,” she says. “We need to understand how they fit into real-world systems — from farms to government.”
A Collaborative Effort and advice to anyone thinking of apply
“It was definitely a team effort,” she says. “My colleagues and family were amazing — taking on extra work and supporting me so I could focus on the proposal. You might be the one pressing ‘submit’, but none of it happens alone.”
Advice to those thinking of applying to the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship
- Talk to as many people as you can about your idea; allow it to evolve and mature
- Expand your network as early as possible
- Listen to what your peers and mentors say
- Let people help you, it’s a joint effort
- Don’t be scared!
Towards a Healthier, More Sustainable Future
The long-term goal of the research is to define the molecular steps that generate trained immunity, paving the way for next-generation vaccines for healthier, more resilient herds.
“If we can understand which pathways drive trained immunity,” says Dr Gibson, “we can design smarter vaccines that protect animals better, reduce the need for antibiotics, and make farming more sustainable.”
The fellowship runs for an initial four years, with the potential to extend to seven, and brings together leading UK and European partners in immunology, genomics, and animal health.
About the Fellowship
The UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships support outstanding early-career researchers and innovators to develop their careers and deliver cutting-edge science with real-world impact.
Find out more about UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships here.
For those interested in learning more about Trained Immunity, you can explore some of these publications here:
1. Aerosol vaccination with Bacille Calmette-Guerin induces a trained innate immune phenotype in calves
2. Increased Lytic Efficiency of Bovine Macrophages Trained with Killed Mycobacteria
3. Non classical monocytes contribute to innate immune training in cattle
4. Evidence of innate training in bovine gdT cells following subcutaneous BCG administration
[1] Non-specific effects of BCG vaccine on viral infections. | IVVN
[2] BCG Vaccination Protects against Experimental Viral Infection in Humans through the Induction of Cytokines Associated with Trained Immunity. | IVVN
[3] Effect of BCG Danish and oral polio vaccine on neonatal mortality in newborn babies weighing less than 2000 g in India: multicentre open label randomised controlled trial (BLOW2) | IVVN
[4] BCG-induced non-specific effects on heterologous infectious disease in Ugandan neonates: an investigator-blind randomised controlled trial | IVVN
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