25 September 2019
The LEO Foundation is excited to reveal the winner of the 2019 LEO Foundation Award for Region EMEA – Dr. Shoba Amarnath.
Shoba Amarnath is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Cellular Medicine at Newcastle University, UK. She receives 100,000 USD for her research in the field of immune tolerance in cutaneous inflammation.
The 2019 LEO Foundation Award for Region EMEA has just been presented by The LEO Foundation at a ceremony during the Future Leaders Symposium at the ESDR annual meeting in Bordeaux, France.
“I’m very grateful for the LEO Foundation Award, and it allows me to do some high-risk innovative research,” says a happy Dr. Shoba Amarnath and continues:
“It is a valuable endorsement of my research in the field of immune tolerance in cutaneous inflammation, and it provides a springboard to my future career development.”
“I’m very proud to present yet another LEO Foundation Award, this time to Dr. Shoba Amarnath,” CEO Jesper Mailind smiles. “She is a rising star in immunology – congratulation Shoba!”
Immunology and skin diseases
More than 50% of all skin diseases have an immunological component, meaning that the immune system plays a role in either development or progression of the disease.
It is therefore of utmost importance to gain a deeper knowledge of the immunological pathways in skin diseases.
And Dr. Shoba Amarnath is for sure a rising star in immunology.
Her latest research at Newcastle University has resulted in numerous fundamental discoveries in cutaneous immunology in collaboration with Professor Nick Reynolds, Professor Penny Lovat and Professor Mark Birch-Machin.
Their research on immune tolerance has identified key regulatory networks that control immune-regulatory T cells (Tregs) and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) within melanoma and cutaneous inflammation. Ongoing work at the Amarnath Laboratory of T cell regulation is further extending these fundamental studies in melanoma patients and atopic dermatitis.
“The research vision of my laboratory is to decipher the intricate immunological networks that regulate immune tolerance in health and disease. Specifically, we aim to identify proteins that control Treg function in inflammation and cancer,” says Dr. Shoba Amarnath and continues:
“We are interested in developing a comprehensive analysis of the proteomic landscape within Tregs and test the function of each protein in in vivo models of melanoma and cutaneous inflammation.”
Future hopes
What are the hopes for a rising star in immunology at the Institute of Cellular Medicine at Newcastle University?
“I hope my research will change the immunotherapy landscape in autoimmunity and cancer,” says Dr. Shoba Amarnath. “And that eventually it can lead to personalized medicine.”
A promising talent
Professor in dermatology Nick Reynolds from the University of Newcastle is also very satisfied with Dr. Shoba Amarnath receiving the LEO Foundation Award – Region EMEA and says:
“The LEO Foundation Award is an investment into one of the most promising talents in UK experimental dermatology”.
The LEO Foundation Global Review panel was very excited about Dr. Shoba Amarnath too and said among other things:
“Amarnath shows unquestionable evidence of scientific independence”
“She has made novel and important observations, and her research is of high originality”
“Her publication record only seems to be accelerating”
“Amarnath has made ground-breaking research, and she shows potential to become a leader in the field”