Rich is an immunologist interested in the regulation of T cell responses under conditions of chronic inflammation and the balance between effective immunity and inflammatory pathology. His interest was kindled during a PhD at the University of Glasgow with Prof. Eileen Devaney, studying the tropical disease lymphatic filariasis. It was subsequently strengthened during a fellowship, awarded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society of America, undertaken at New York’s Trudeau Institute with Prof. Dyana Dalton. In Prof. Steve Anderton’s lab at the University of Edinburgh he developed models to track the fate and function of auto-aggressive and regulatory T cell populations. He now studies the interactions between stromal cells and T cells in lung cancer in Ahsan Akram’s lab and, within the wider team, contributes to efforts to characterise T cell sub-populations in the lung and develop assays and test probes to describe their functionality. Outside of work he enjoys playing the guitar, drawing and painting.
Publications
Specific in situ immuno-imaging of pulmonary-resident memory lymphocytes in human lungs (2023)
Humphries DC, O’Connor RA, Stewart HL, Quinn TM, Gaughan EE, Mills B, Williams GOS, Stone JM, Finlayson K, Chabaud-Riou M, Boudet F, Dhaliwal K, Pavot V.
An Inhaled Galectin-3 Inhibitor in COVID-19 Pneumonitis (DEFINE): A Phase Ib/IIa Randomised Controlled Trial (2022).
Gaughan EE, Quinn TM, Mills A, Bruce A M, Antonelli J, Mackinnon A, Aslanis V, Li F, O’connor R, Boz C, Mills R, Emanuel P, Burgess M, Rinaldi G, Valanciute A, Mills B, Scholefield E, Hardisty G, Gwyer Findlay E, Parker R A, Norrie J, Dear JW, Akram AR, Koch O, Templeton K, Dockrell DH, Walsh TS, Partridge S, Humphries D, Wang-Jairaj J, Slack RJ, Schambye H, Phung D, Gravelle L, Lindmark B, Shankar-Hari M, Hirani N, Sethi T, Dhaliwal K.
Randomised Controlled Trial of Intravenous Nafamostat Mesylate in COVID pneumonitis: Phase 1b/2a Experimental Study to Investigate Safety, Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics (2022).
Quinn T, Gaughan E E, Bruce A, Antonelli J, O’Connor R A, Li F, McNamara S, Koch O, Mackintosh C, Dockrell D, Walsh T, Blyth K G, Church C, Schwarze J, Boz C, Valanciute A, Burgess M, Emanuel P, Mills B, Rinaldi G, Hardisty G, Mills R, Findlay EG, Jabbal S, Duncan A, Plant S, Marshal ADL, Young I, Russell K, Scholefield E, Nimmo AF, Nazarov IB, Churchill GC, McCullagh JSO, Ebrahimi KH, Ferrett C, Templeton K, Rannard S, Owen A, Moore A, Finlayson K, Shankar-Hari M, Norrie J, Parker RA, Akram AR, Anthony DC, Dear JW, Hirani N, Dhaliwal K.
A fluorogenic probe for granzyme B enables in-biopsy evaluation and screening of response to anticancer immunotherapies (2022).
Scott J, Mendive Tapia L, Gordon D, Barth N, Thompson E, Cheng Z, Taggart D, Kitamura T, Blas A B, Roberts E W, Juarez Jimenez J, Michel J, Piet B, de Vries I J, Verdoes M, Dawson J C, Carragher N O, O’Connor R A, Akram A R, Serrels A. Frame M C, Vendrell M.
Fibroblast Activation Protein specific optical imaging in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (2022).
Mathieson L, O’Connor R A, Stewart H, Shaw P, Dhaliwal K, Williams G, Megia-Fernandez A, Akram A R.
Phototherapeutic Induction of Immunogenic Cell Death and CD8+ T Cell-Granzyme B Mediated Cytolysis in Human Lung Cancer Cells and Organoids (2022).
Valančiūtė A, Mathieson L, O’Connor R A, Scott J I, Vendrell M, Dorward D A, Akram A R, Dhaliwal K.
T cells drive negative feedback mechanisms in Cancer Associated Fibroblasts, promoting expression of co-inhibitory ligands, CD73 and IL-27 in non-small cell lung cancer (2021)
O’Connor R A, Chauhan V, Mathieson L, Titmarsh H, Koppensteiner L, Young I, Tagliavini G, Dorward D, Prost S, Dhaliwal K, Wallace W, Akram A R.
Humphries DC, O’Connor RA, Larocque D, Chabaud-Riou M, Dhaliwal K, Pavot V.