Stephanie Ascough

Steff Ascough is an immunologist in the Department of Infectious Disease. She received her PhD from Imperial College London on the immunology of Anthrax and Plague, mapping T cell epitopes in the context of vaccine design. She conducted research on Filariasis and Onchocerciasis in The Gambia with the Tropical Parasitic Diseases Unit, NPIMR, UCL on a research grant from The Gates Foundation, before continuing vaccine focussed research with the Avian Viral Immunology Group, at The Pirbright Institute. This research concentrated on the correlation of immunogenicity with microarray analysis of vector virus mutants to improve live recombinant poxvirus vaccines against H5N1. She is currently an academic immunologist in the Department of Infectious Disease, responsible for the laboratory aspects of early phase clinical vaccine trials as well as experimental infection challenges carried out within the group. Using clinical samples from trial participants, she investigates innate, humoral and cell-mediated immunity in respiratory viral infections, including influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Specifically, focusing on developing, optimising and validating assays to define novel correlates of protection that will enable us to design more effective vaccines against these viral pathogens.

• Faculty of Medicine