Dr Richard Beatson

Title: Mucins as immune modulators in inflammatory disease; 45 years in 45 minutes. 

Synopsis:

For hundreds of years mucins have been seen primarily as an important barrier protecting the inside world from the outside world - analogous to an internal skin - however recent discoveries have demonstrated that this is just one of their many roles. We now know that mucins can directly bind specific pathogens, regulate local biophysical conditions, provide a habitat and nutrients for commensals, and modulate the immune system. Focusing on MUC1 this seminar will provide a whistle stop tour of 45 years of research explaining how we, and others, have begun to see mucins not just as barrier molecules, but as the latest in a long line of immunological actors. 

Bio:

Having trained in medicine (Glasgow), immunology (UCL) and glycobiology (KCL and Imperial), Richard now leads the translational glyco-immunology group at King’s College London. The group is focused on understanding and affecting the processes by which aberrant glycosylation occurs in diseased cells and how these altered glycans interact with and impact immune cells, with a view to translation.

 

 

First published: 19 August 2025

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