On 29th April 2022, Tiffin Boys School invited Professor Leonie Taams from King’s College London to give a lecture to the sixth form biology students about immunology and the complexities of the body’s immune responses.

 

Professor Taams began lecturing at King’s College London in 2003 and is now a Professor of Immune Regulation and Inflammation. She has been Congress Secretary of the British Society of Immunology, and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of a scientific journal named “Clinical and Experimental Immunology”; Director of the Centre for Inflammation Biology and Cancer Immunology (CIBCI) and Director of the FOCIS Centre of Excellence at King’s College London. More information about Professor Taams and her lab can be found via this link:

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/taams-lab

 

The presentation given, titled “The Power of the Immune System”, recapped some A-level biology content, for example functions of T cells, B cells, and antibodies, as well as types of immune responses, before giving an introduction on how this knowledge has helped her lab tackle questions involving pain and inflammation. She dove into specific areas of interest including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis as well as outlining her scientific background and how her hard work paved the way for possibility not only within KCL but across the globe. For example she explained how her job and research allowed her to access freedom to travel; Professor Taams has been to conferences in a multitude of places from London to Canada to China and is soon going to be attending one in San Francisco.

 

To finish her speech, Professor Taams spoke of the importance of following your passion and doing what is most enjoyable stating that “if you do what you love, you will love what you do”. A-level students can feel a lot of pressure so her words were inspiring at a time when the stresses of exams can be all-consuming.

 

Finally, Professor Taams gave a useful link for those who wanted to learn more about immunology or solidify their understanding of A-level content:

https://www.immunology.org/public-information/bitesized-immunology