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Professor Noelle’s research is focused on the cellular and molecular basis for the impact of Vitamin A on immunity. His studies to date have focused on the importance of Vitamin A, and its metabolite retinoic acid (RA), in host resistance to infectious disease.

Up to 10 million malnourished children a year are at increased risk of complications and death from infectious diseases due to deficiency in Vitamin A. Professor Noelle's laboratory has also recently identified a new negative checkpoint regulator for the immune system, called VISTA, that is an exciting, new target in the treatment of a variety of immune related diseases, like cancer and autoimmunity. This target is currently being developed for human therapy.

Professor Ridley has made seminal contributions to our understanding of cancer progression and inflammation through her work on cell migration. As a postdoctoral fellow, she discovered that the small GTPases Rho and Rac are signal transducers that regulate actin cytoskeletal organization in mammalian cells.

Her work has initiated a whole research field studying the function and regulation of Rho GTPases, and has influenced many areas of medical research, from cancer metastasis to cardiovascular diseases and infection with microorganisms.

Professor Azzopardi is Professor of Neonatal Medicine and Consultant in Neonatal Medicine at Evelina Children’s Hospital. His clinical research in the investigation, assessment and treatment of neonatal encephalopathy has spanned more than 20 years. He was the principal investigator of TOBY the MRC trial of whole body cooling. The national and European study showed that cooling babies after birth asphyxia can reduce brain damage by 50%.

Professor Azzopardi has co-ordinated the national implementation of cooling therapy for babies and has set up the national register to ensure all babies have access to cooling therapy.