16 Oct 08

A celebratory meeting was held in July to celebrate the contributions of staff at the MRC Immunochemistry Unit.

The MRC Immunochemistry Unit at Oxford University can look back over forty years of successful research in understanding the workings of the immune system as its director Professor Ken Reid retires.

The award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1972 to the Unit's first director, Professor Rodney Porter, for solving of the structure of an antibody marked a great beginning for the centre formed just five years earlier. Research in the Unit also led to detailed analysis, at both the protein and gene levels, of the components of the complement system, part of the body’s innate immune response.

The MRC Immunochemistry Unit's strong background in protein biochemistry earned it international recognition in this field. Initially, work started by Professor Porter concentrated on the structure and function of antibodies. Later, Professor Reid, who took over the directorship in 1985, focussed on complement proteins, a group of factors in the blood, which amplify and complement the action of antibodies. The Unit got credit for detailed structural and functional analysis of many of the complement system proteins – which had previously been uncharacterised factors in the blood.

Coming from Aberdeen University, in 1969, on a two-year fellowship, Ken Reid had no intention of staying in Oxford for very long. He soon realized that Oxford was the place to be, he says. ‘All the facilities were here and the Unit was in a privileged position, being placed within one of the biggest biochemistry departments in Europe.’

A three-day meeting was held in July at St Anne’s College, Oxford, to celebrate the work of Professor Reid and the MRC Immunochemistry Unit. The event was attended many of its staff, alumni and friends.

‘Ex-members of the Unit have had a big influence in the setting up of a wide range of structural and cellular immunology research programmes,’ says Professor Reid. ‘The Unit’s research is continuing elsewhere with some initial help from the Medical Research Council.’

Professor Reid remains in Oxford and continues his connection with the University through his Fellowship at Green Templeton College.