Dr Lalit Kumar Dubey

Profile

ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8746-7292

Lalit is an immunologist/stromal cell biologist who grew up in India and obtained his basic science training, including bachelor degree (Life Science) from Gorakhpur University and master degree (Biotechnology), from Bangalore University. He obtained his PhD (in 2012) from Institute of Molecular Medicine at University of Southern Denmark followed by a postdoctoral training (2012-2017) at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. In 2017, Lalit joined University of Lausanne as a senior scientist (Chargé De Recherche) and continued his research on mesenteric lymph node stroma. Later on, he moved to Queen Mary University of London as a Lecturer at the Centre for Microvascular Research within the William Harvey Research Institute.

Memberships

• British Society for Immunology (BSI)
• British Society for Parasitology (BSP)
• Royal Microscopical Society (RMS)
• European Microscopy Society (EMS)

Review editor: Frontiers in immunology; Associate faculty member, F1000

Research

Group members

The Dubey group has just been established and will be recruiting soon.

Job advert:
We are currently looking for a Postdoctoral fellow to join our team. The position requires a Ph.D. in the biological sciences (mucosal immunology, cell biology, cancer biology or related discipline) with strong background in conducting mouse experiments and multiplex flow cytometry, single-cell RNA sequencing, histological techniques and quantitative imaging. Candidates must have received or expect to have received the PhD or MD/PhD in 2020-2021 are encouraged to apply. Previous experience in intestinal helminth infections models, advanced imaging approaches (Confocal and Light-sheet microscopy), host-pathogen interaction, B cell biology, Type-2 immunity would be an advantage.

For details please follow the link below.
https://webapps2.is.qmul.ac.uk/jobs/job.action?jobID=5623

For informal enquiries, please contact:
Dr. Lalit Kumar Dubey at lalit.dubey@qmul.ac.uk

We are actively looking for PhD (self-funded) and MSc research students who are passionate about improving the mechanistic understanding of stromal cells organization and function in health and disease, including autoimmune disease, cardiovascular biology, cancer and infectious disease. 

Undergraduates: please send a brief description of previous research experience and a motivation letter to lalit.dubey@qmul.ac.uk

Summary

Research in my lab primarily focus on bridging the lymphoid stromal biology to global health problems arising due to soil, water and foodborne infections. We are interested in understanding the biology of lymph node Fibroblastic Reticular Cells (FRCs) and Lymphatic Endothelial Cells (LECs) using intestinal helminth as a model organism. By using a gastrointestinal nematode, Heligmosomoides polygyrus (Hp), we study the mechanisms behind FRCs and LECs organization, differentiation, proliferation and activation (as well as host pathogen interaction).

To initiate an immune response against intestinal parasites, a small number of stromal cells within the lymph node repertoire needs to get activated, proliferate rapidly, generate large infrastructure to accommodate and support the cellular interaction leading to the generation of effector cells. A major focus of our lab is directed toward understanding the way in which the lymph node stromal compartment recognizes and instruct various immune cells (B cells/T Cells/macrophages etc.) to elicit immunological response development. Over the past years, we have developed the key methodology comprised of qualitative and quantitative approaches to study lymph node stromal population to an unprecedented detail.

These studies further emphasize that the spectrum of immune response towards chronic infection and or vaccination is a dynamic equilibrium regulated by stromal cells and white blood cells and it’s the mutualistic efforts that govern the protective or detrimental immune outcome. Our understanding of microbial impacts on number and function of these cells will therefore serve not only to increase the basic knowledge of tissue dynamics but may additionally have far reaching implications for the prevention of chronic inflammatory diseases.

Tools/Model systems/Technical expertise

Mouse models, Intestinal helminth model organism, Histology, Confocal microscopy, Light sheet microscopy, host-pathogen interaction, co-culture system, Type-2 immunity, omics approaches etc.

Key Publications

• IL-4Rα Expressing B cells Govern CXCL13 Production by Fibroblastic Reticular Cells, Cell Reports, 2019 May 21;27(8):2442-2458
• Interactions between fibroblastic reticular cells and B cells promote mesenteric lymph node lymphangiogenesis, Nature Communications, 2017 August 28;8(1):367
• Lymphotoxin-Dependent B Cell-FRC Crosstalk Promotes De Novo Follicle Formation and Antibody Production following Intestinal Helminth Infection, Cell Reports, 2016 May 17;15 (7):1527-1541

Collaborators

Internal: Professor Sussan Nourshargh (WHRI); Professor Antal Rot (WHRI)

External: Professor Burkhard Ludewig (St. Gallen, Switzerland); Professor Tiina Roose (University of Southampton, UK)

News

Dr. Lalit Kumar Dubey and Dr. Neil Dufton have been appointed joint academic leads of the WHRI Seminar Series.

For all suggestions/enquires related to the seminar series: please get in touch with either Lalit Dubey (lalit.dubey@qmul.ac.uk) or Neil Dufton (n.dufton@qmul.ac.uk).