After completing his undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, Joe Frost was awarded joint funding by the RDM Scholars Programme and the Christopher Welch Scholarship in Biological Sciences to conduct a D.Phil., with Professor Hal Drakesmith.
His research in the Drakesmith lab asks how iron availability impacts upon immunity. Genetic defects in immune cell iron uptake have been found to cause a human immunodeficiency syndrome, demonstrating the adaptive immune system's requirement for iron. He hypothesised that iron may become limiting for lymphocytes under conditions of physiological iron deficiency, resulting in an impaired adaptive immune response. Iron deficiency is the most prevalent micronutrient deficiency worldwide; understanding the nutritional requirements of immune responses might help us better implement vaccination regimes.
Find out more about his work.