The transfer of maternal immunity to their offspring can play an important role in protecting their young from early exposure to disease. However the consequences of variation in this immune response for the long term development of offspring - both in response to natural infection and in response to health interventions such as vaccination - remains unclear.

Maternal immunity in birds .

Maternal immunity and early protection of offspring can potentially be induced by vaccination and in many animal systems the vaccination of mothers as opposed to their many offspring can be employed to control common animal diseases and potentially reduce overall levels of drug use in animal breeding programmes. However, the long term effects on both the development of the offspring's own immune system and the responses of pathogenic organisms to blanket protection of young are not yet clear. We are examining the dynamics and long term consequences of maternal immunity in response to vaccination against diseases that are both avian specific and zoonotic (potentially a risk to humans) including salmonella and avian flu.

Maternal immunity and malaria

Maternal immunity is known to play a key role in the protection of newborns from malaria in countries where the disease is endemic. However, there are many strains and species of the malaria parasite that co-occur in different areas. How specific is the protection provided by maternal immunity and does this relate to the genetic similarity and/or virulence of the parasite the mother was exposed do. And what sort of effect do our interventions to fight the effects of the disease have on maternal responses? We are looking the implications of these types of response. This malaria work is being done in collaboration with The Read Group at Penn State University and The Reece Group at the University of Edinburgh.