Griffiths Lab Members | Griffithslab

Professor Gillian M. Griffiths

FMedSci, FRS

I am a cell biologist and immunologist who has focused on understanding the fundamental cell biological mechanisms that drive cytotoxic T cell killing. I find scientific research endlessly fascinating and have always been intrigued by the parallels between seemingly disparate biological systems such as the immune synapse and primary cilia.

Beyond the lab, I enjoy bird watching and cycling in remote parts of Scotland.

Jane Stinchcombe, PhD

I use electron microscopy to investigate the cell biology of the CTL at the ultrastructural level. In particular, I am interested in the ultrastructural changes that take place during target engagement and understanding why they are important during killing.

Yukako Asano, PhD

I'm interested in mechanisms of cell polarity used in T cells. I use live cell imaging to look at this and have generated many of the movies on the website.

Anna Lippert, PhD

I'm Anna, a Sir Henry Wellcome Trust fellow working on the role of forces during T cell activation and killing. During my 4 years I will work between three groups to combine 3D lightsheet imaging with intracellular force sensors and patient-derived T cells with various actin deficiencies.

Apart from sciencing, I spend my time with ballroom dancing and petting other people's cats.

Tiphaine Douanne, PhD

I'm a post-doc using a combination of microscopy and biochemistry to study the morphological and molecular similarities between the immune synapse and the primary cilia.

Arianne Richard, PhD

I am an MRC Skills Development Postdoctoral Fellow jointly sponsored by the Griffiths and Marioni labs. I'm interested in how T cells change their gene expression in response to stimulation. In particular I use single-cell measurement techniques to look at how molecular events are coordinated within individual cells.

Claire Ma, MD

I am a Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD student and respiratory registrar. I am interested in the mechanisms of T cell activation by stimuli of differing strengths. For my studies I use single-cell methods including mass cytometry (Cytof) and single-cell RNA sequencing.

Adam Rochussen

I am a first year PhD student on the Wellcome Trust II&I programme. I am investigating the role of forces in CTL activation and killing by implementing a range of force probes in CTLs. These probes will be combined with CRISPR gene editing to elucidate which genes are involved in the T cell's ability to sense force and activate thereafter. This is of particular interest since cancer cells have been shown to exhibit decreased stiffness and thereby evade the immune system.

Carla Vázquez Amos

I am the lab supervisor and research assistant. I organise the lab and our mouse colonies.

Currently I am working on patient cell characterisation and supporting the lab's various research aims.