Using Antibodies to Understand Polygenic Susceptibility to Infection and HLA

Alexander J. Mentzer, DPhil, FRCPath, MRCP, MSc, is a Scientific Principal Investigator at the Centre for Human Genetics in the University of Oxford, and a Consultant Physician specializing in Infectious Disease, Microbiology and Acute General Medicine. His research focus is on the understanding of human genetic variation and its impact on susceptibility and outcomes with infectious disease, informing the use of genetic data to improve the health of patients through public health interventions and acute medical care. The central approach of his lab is the use of immune responses against conserved antigens to understand infection susceptibility. His team validates multiplex antibody assays and uses these alongside human genetic data in large-scale biobanks to identify and fine-map genetic associations. Much of his work is focussed on the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region of the human genome, understanding this locus within understudied populations to mechanistic detail.