Skip to main content
leonie-taams2

Professor Leonie Taams

Head of the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences

  • Director of the Centre for Inflammation Biology & Cancer Immunology
  • Professor of Immune Regulation & Inflammation

Research interests

  • Biomedical and life sciences
  • Cancer
  • Immunology

Biography

Leonie Taams obtained a PhD in Immunology from Utrecht University, the Netherlands, with a thesis entitled 'Anergic T cells as active regulators of the immune response'. Leonie undertook postdoctoral studies at the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London. There, with Professor Arne Akbar, she isolated and characterised, as one of the first groups worldwide, human regulatory CD4+CD25+ T cells.

Leonie continued to translate her findings to human inflammatory disease, by studying the presence and function of these cells in rheumatoid arthritis, during her postdoctoral research at the University Medical Centre Utrecht. In early 2003, she took up a Lecturer position at King’s College London, where she is now Professor of Immune Regulation & Inflammation. At King’s, Leonie runs an active research lab that studies fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms that initiate, perpetuate and regulate immune-mediated inflammation in human health and disease.

In addition to her research activities, Leonie is the Director of the Centre for Inflammation Biology and Cancer Immunology (CIBCI) at King’s, and Head of the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences. She is also Director of the FOCIS Centre of Excellence at King’s and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Clinical and Experimental Immunology.

Previously, Leonie was a member of the EULAR and ewIMID scientific programme committees. She was Congress Secretary of the British Society of Immunology (BSI) and a BSI Trustee. She was a member of the Divisional Athena Swan Self Assessment Team that led to an Athena SWAN silver award. Leonie also held substantive teaching & education roles, including Deputy Director and Chair of the Assessment Sub Board of the MSc Immunology, module organizer and personal tutor. She is a recipient of the King’s Graduate School Supervisory Excellence Award 2011-2012.

    Research

    inflammation-biology-hero banner 1903 x558
    Taams Lab

    Studying fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms that initiate, perpetuate and regulate immune-mediated inflammation in human health and disease

    Status not set
    synthetic-biology
    RNA Biology

    RNA is at the forefront of biomedical research for its central role in how information is transferred from DNA to protein. This Research Interest Group is open to all interested parties from across the University.

    Status not set

    News

    Developing Translational Research Capabilities in the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences

    Researchers from the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences have been awarded funding through King's Health Partners Essentials for Translational Medical...

    khp_logo

    King's researchers awarded funding to study persistent pain in inflammatory arthritis

    The £3.9M award will be used to identify the drivers of pain in people living with rheumatoid arthritis.

    Inflammatory arthritis

    Faculty researchers recognised at royal event celebrating women's arthritis research

    Professor Leonie Taams, School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences, and Professor Frances Williams, School of Life Course Sciences, were recognised at the...

    Versus Arthritis

    Features

    5 minutes with Leonie Taams

    We caught up with Leonie on her career, current projects and love of Eurovision.

    Guys-hero

      Research

      inflammation-biology-hero banner 1903 x558
      Taams Lab

      Studying fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms that initiate, perpetuate and regulate immune-mediated inflammation in human health and disease

      Status not set
      synthetic-biology
      RNA Biology

      RNA is at the forefront of biomedical research for its central role in how information is transferred from DNA to protein. This Research Interest Group is open to all interested parties from across the University.

      Status not set

      News

      Developing Translational Research Capabilities in the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences

      Researchers from the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences have been awarded funding through King's Health Partners Essentials for Translational Medical...

      khp_logo

      King's researchers awarded funding to study persistent pain in inflammatory arthritis

      The £3.9M award will be used to identify the drivers of pain in people living with rheumatoid arthritis.

      Inflammatory arthritis

      Faculty researchers recognised at royal event celebrating women's arthritis research

      Professor Leonie Taams, School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences, and Professor Frances Williams, School of Life Course Sciences, were recognised at the...

      Versus Arthritis

      Features

      5 minutes with Leonie Taams

      We caught up with Leonie on her career, current projects and love of Eurovision.

      Guys-hero