Biosketch
Sarah Dimeloe trained as a hospital pharmacist before undertaking an MSc and PhD in Immunology at King’s College London. During her PhD, she investigated the biology of CD4+ T lymphocytes in allergic and asthmatic disease. Sarah then moved to the University of Basel in 2012 to undertake post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Professor Christoph Hess, where she began to investigate how T cell function is underpinned by dynamic changes in their metabolism. In 2017, Sarah established her own research group at the University of Birmingham, where she continues to study how the metabolic activity of T cells relates to their roles in health and disease.
Research profile
Research in our laboratory focuses on the metabolism and interlinked immune function of T lymphocytes in health and disease. We are interested in how the bone marrow environment impacts T cell metabolism and function in the blood cancer, multiple myeloma. In this context, we identified that uptake of long-chain fatty acids from the bone marrow suppresses CD8+ T-cell metabolism and function.
Main research questions:
- What drives T cell metabolic dysfunction in autoimmunity and cancer?
- How do coordinated changes in NAD/H synthesis pathway activity regulate T cell metabolism, signalling and function during immune responses?
We have also recently interrogated the metabolic basis for cytokine-driven T cell expansion, which occurs following stem cell transplantation for multiple myeloma and other haematological malignancies, identifying integrated nutrient sensing in this context.
Other research in the laboratory has assessed how the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α contributes to T cell metabolic dysregulation in rheumatoid arthritis. Finally, another area of interest is how the synthesis of the metabolic redox cofactor, NAD/H is controlled during T cell immune responses, and implications of this for T cell metabolism, signalling and differentiation.
Positions and training
2022 – Present: Associate Professor, University of Birmingham, UK.
2017 – 2022: Birmingham Fellow, University of Birmingham, UK.
2013 – 2016: Post-doctoral Researcher, University of Basel, Switzerland.
Contributions
- Secretary, British Society of Immunology “Immune Metabolism Affinity Group”
- Commentaries editor/Editorial Board Member, “Immunometabolism” Journal.
- Co-director, Medical Research Council “Advanced Interdisciplinary Models” Doctoral Training Programme