PRP: Professor Adam Cunningham
Adam Cunningham is a researcher based in the College of Medical and Dental Sciences’ Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy. In addition he is part of the vaccinology and immunomodulation theme in the newly formed cross-College Institute of Microbiology and Infection.
Adam’s research primarily focuses on the how immune responses develop to vaccines and infection and how they impact on host immune homeostasis. Adam’s significant contributions to recent COVID-19-relevant research have:
Led to the development of a new ELISA test to detect antibodies to SARS-CoV-2;
Shown the test can confirm SARS-CoV-2 infection in children diagnosed with a newly identified multi-system inflammatory syndrome (PIMS-TS), similar to Kawasaki disease, who have tested negative for the virus by the PCR test;
Shown the level of previous infection can vary in different health care workers in a hospital setting;
Identified how antibodies can be obtained from blood spots on paper – providing a cheap and scalable way to enhance antibody testing in high and low income settings.
