Dear Immunology, Developmental Biology and Single-Cell Omics enthusiasts,
The human immune system is extremely complex, comprised of multiple cell types and states interacting in myriad ways to produce diverse cellular ecosystems. The rise of single-cell genomics in recent years has contributed a great deal to understanding this complexity and the role of the immune system in infection, inflammation, and disease. In this lecture Muzlifah Haniffa will demonstrate the application of single-cell genomics to decode the developing human immune system. In particular, she will discuss her work using single-cell RNA sequencing to study human yolk sac, fetal liver and bone marrow haematopoiesis and the immune network formation in prenatal peripheral tissues. Muzlifah will discuss this work within her broader research goal of understanding how developmental immune programs may be co-opted in post-natal disease. A detailed understanding of the developing immune system is also relevant to improve stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine.
Muzz (as she likes to be called) describes herself as a “dermatologist by trade, born into immunology, married into developmental biology and … best friends with single-cell “Omics’…”. She and her team apply single-cell genomics technologies to understand how the immune system develops and maintains heath. She heads the Cellular Genetics program at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, where she is a senior group leader, and is Professor of Dermatology and Immunology at Newcastle University. In addition, she is the Biological Network Co-Coordinator for the Human Cell Atlas, a global, grass-roots led research consortium aiming to map all cell types in the healthy body across all stages of development. An enthusiastic and committed international collaborator, she is an associate in the new (2024) TRR 359 PILOT.
Recent publications include:
WebAtlas pipeline for integrated single-cell and spatial transcriptomic data. Li T, Horsfall D, Basurto-Lozada D, Roberts K, Prete M, Lawrence JEG, He P, Tuck E, Moore J, Yoldas AK, Babalola K, Hartley M, Ghazanfar S, Teichmann SA, Haniffa M, Bayraktar OA. Nat Methods. 2024 Aug 19. doi: 10.1038/s41592-024-02371-x. Online ahead of print.
Mapping Human Immunity and the Education of Waldeyer’s Ring. Talks BJ, Mather MW, Chahal M, Coates M, Clatworthy MR, Haniffa M. Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet. 2024 Apr 9. doi: 10.1146/annurev-genom-120522-012938.
How developmental cell atlases inform stem cell embryo models. Haniffa M, Maartens A, Teichmann SA. Nat Methods. 2023 Dec;20(12):1849-1851. doi: 10.1038/s41592-023-02072-x.
Single-cell RNA sequencing of human epidermis identifies Lunatic fringe as a novel regulator of the stem cell compartment. Negri VA, Louis B, Zijl S, Ganier C, Philippeos C, Ali S, Reynolds G, Haniffa M, Watt FM. Stem Cell Reports. 2023 Nov 14;18(11):2047-2055. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2023.09.007.
Yolk sac cell atlas reveals multiorgan functions during human early development. Goh I, Botting RA, Rose A, Webb S, Engelbert J, … Göttgens B, Teichmann SA, Haniffa M. Science. 2023 Aug 18;381(6659):eadd7564. doi: 10.1126/science.add7564.
Contact: sfb1054irtg@med.uni-muenchen.de