Keith Matthews

Biography

Keith Matthews is Director of the Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution and Head of the Institute for Immunology and Infection Research

Research Interest

Professor Matthews' research interests focus on the developmental biology of African trypanosomes, including the molecular mechanisms of their differentiation, their regulation of gene expression and their environmental-perception signalling pathways. Recently, he successfully exploited genome-wide RNAi screens to generate a comprehensive list of key regulators of the trypanosome quorum-sensing (QS) pathway (published in 'Nature' in 2013), and the effector molecules responsible for transmission-stage gene expression. This has now positioned him to decipher microbial communication and cellular differentiation in trypanosomes from the molecular to the population level, including their impact in co-infections with related trypanosomatids. These studies are integrated into the broad framework of understanding parasite biology in both the host and the vector, offering opportunities to predict or restrict parasite virulence.