Individual patients themselves can teach us a lot about how the immune system works. Some of the research that we have done describes how investigating a single case of a new condition can lead us to discover brand new facts about the immune system. By publishing this we can let other doctors and scientists know what we have found, which can give them new ideas about their own patients and how to treat them.
Rare diseases: we need your help
Research in rare conditions is quite difficult to do. You can never learn as much from studying a dozen cases of a disease as you can from studying hundreds of cases. Immune deficiency is rare, so many Immunodeficiency centres in the UK, Europe and across the world join resources to improve the quality of the research that we do.
The UK PIN / ESID database is one example of this. With the patients’ permission, we submit anonymous information to larger databases in London and Freiburg (Germany). When this data is examined together with data from lots of other Immunology centres, then important research questions can be answered.
We have also done research involving the genetics of immune disorders and the effects of Covid infection and vaccination in people with immunodeficiency.
*You can see some of the research that we have published through this PubMed search:*
Last reviewed: 19 May 2023