Dr. Sutherland is co-PI and research task (RT)2 (host immunity) leader on TB Sequel Project at MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM. Her main role will be to co-ordinate activities for RT2 at all sites including development of SOPs and training in required techniques such as flow cytometry. She will also oversee multiplex cytokine array experiments to identify potential prognostic biomarkers associated with TB outcome.
Dr Sutherland is a clinical immunologist with a PhD in cancer immunotherapy. Her PhD and early post-doctoral career was spent in Australia and London before moving to The Gambia in 2006. Since 2006 her main research interest has been the immunology of infectious diseases, with a particular focus on tuberculosis (TB). She worked as a post-doctoral scientist on a multi-site TB biomarker project (Grand Challenges for TB funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). Dr. Sutherland currently heads the TB Immunology laboratory and the TB case-contact platform at MRCG, which provides a powerful tool for multi-disciplinary research of TB.
Dr. Sutherland has published over 40 manuscripts and has two patent applications on both cancer immunotherapy (her PhD topic) and Tuberculosis. Her main projects include identifying biomarkers of risk/protection to TB; biomarkers for TB diagnosis and treatment response and host-pathogen interactions in TB. Dr. Sutherland has recently identified host biomarkers in sputum which can be used to accurately diagnose TB amongst all respiratory infections and has been able to use these biomarkers to distinguish TB mono-infection from co-infections with other respiratory pathogens.
Email: jsutherland@mrc.gm