Professor Anne Cooke FMedSci

Anne Cooke, Professor of Immunology, University of Cambridge is a distinguished scientist who has made seminal contributions to the field of auto immunity and Type 1 diabetes in particular. Her novel approaches have provided insight into pathogenic processes and their regulation. Key contributions include her development of the cytokine Elispot technique to monitor pro-inflammatory cytokine production and her early demonstration of a role for CD4+T cell mediated regulation in prevention of autoimmunity. She also successfully demonstrated the importance of single amino acid residues within MHC Class II for diabetes susceptibility and identified key cell types involved in immune mediated beta cell destruction in Type 1 diabetes. Her findings have been used to generate improved strategies for the treatment of autoimmune pathology and opened up new avenues for potential novel therapies. In addition to her research contributions Anne Cooke has performed an enormous number of important functions for the Clinical and Scientific Community, as well as carrying a big teaching and training load throughout her career, inspiring numerous young scientists and clinicians to take up careers in immunology research.