Timothy Connelley

Dr
Timothy
Connelley

Career Track Fellow
The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh
Email 
timothy.connelley [at] ed.ac.uk
Biography

I have an interest in understanding the immunological mechanisms that underlie the success or failure of vaccines developed to induce T-cell responses in livestock species. This has predominantly focused on Theileria parva but I also have interests in other major pathogens including Mycobacterium bovis.

As MHC and TCR diversity are integral to understanding T-cell mediated immunity I have also worked on developing technologies that can be used to advance our understanding of these complex areas of immunogenetics as well as other tools, such as antibodies, that can be used to better analyse immunity.

I am a veterinary surgeon, graduating from the University of Bristol in 2000 and undertook a PhD in Veterinary Molecular and Cellular Immunology at the Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine (CTVM) at the University of Edinburgh in the group of Prof. Morrison in 2002.

As Director of the IVVN I look forward to interacting with the veterinary vaccinology community globally and am excited by the opportunities to work with people from across a broad spectrum of disciplines working on a diverse range of diseases, pathogens and livestock species.

Research interests

Immunology T-cell vaccines Theileria parva Tuberculosis Immunogenetics

Projects you're working on

1 - Immunogenetics of livestock species in tropical regions. Funded by Centre For Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (2016-2021) A collaborative project with researchers from a number of institutes including Makerere University (Uganda), ILRI (Kenya), University of Zambia, NVRI (Nigeria), University of Nsukka (Nigeria), University of Ghana, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (Pakistan), University of Sao Paolo (Brazil), University of Perugia (Italy and the Moredun Research Institute (UK). The project aims to develop and apply tools to look at the diversity of MHC and TCR in livestock species as tools that can be used to enhance understanding of vaccine responses in livestock species.

2 - Defining the correlates of CD8+ T-cell mediated immunity in Theilera parva. Funded by the BBSRC (2020-2023), collaboration with Dr Ian Macauley (Earlham Institute, UK ) and Dr. Musa Hassan (Roslin Institute, UK). A project applying integrated immunology and transcriptomic approaches in a longitudinal model to understand difference between protective and non-protective T-cell responses and how these underpin vaccine failure or success. 

Discipline
Bioinformatics Immunology – T-cells Immunology – innate
Host species
Cattle Small ruminants
Pathogen
BacteriaMycobacteria bovis ParasitesTheileria annulata ParasitesTheileria parva
Stage of vaccine development
Antigen discovery and immunogen design Correlates of protection – immunomonitoring