Lymph nodes are small organs essential in defending the body against infections, cancer, and autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. They react to vaccines by swelling with antibody-producing white blood cells, and may represent critical targets for new drug therapies. However, current knowledge about lymph node function is limited due to reliance on indirect blood analyses or examination of diseased lymph nodes. This limits the development of targeted drugs and vaccines.
A national network of expert lymph node research centres is expected to be transformative for British science in this growing field, helping to drive forward research through targeted training and strategic regional development. It will enable substantial benefits nationally and globally across discovery science in infection and immunity, drug and vaccine development, commercial partnerships, and related fields such as cancer research.
In addition to the three lead university sites, the other centres will be built at the universities of Birmingham, University College London (UCL), Liverpool, Glasgow, St. George’s Vaccine Institute and two at the University of Cambridge. Each centre will provide essential training, resources, expert support in research design, participant engagement, advanced lymph node cell handling, and data analysis techniques.
Professor Katrina Pollock, Chief Investigator for the LEGACY Network at the Oxford Vaccine Group, said: “The establishment of this national network of lymph node centres represents a transformative step for UK biomedical research. Until now, our understanding has been restricted by indirect methods and studies of diseased tissue. By collaborating with our academic partners to create these ten dedicated centres, we can study healthy lymph node function directly for the first time, paving the way for targeted therapies and next-generation vaccines.”
Lucy Jones, Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Cardiff’s School of Medicine said: “This funding provides a unique opportunity to build a sustainable research network, strengthen collaborations with scientists across the UK, and establish a Welsh Lymph Node Research Hub at Cardiff University. Our goal is to accelerate discoveries in immunology that can benefit patients across a range of medical conditions, from infectious diseases, autoimmune disease and age-related immune decline."
Professor John Isaacs from Newcastle University, Director of Research at Newcastle Hospitals and Deputy Director of the NIHR Newcastle BRC will be leading the training programme for the north of England and Scotland. Professor Isaacs said: “Lymph nodes are where the immune system makes its decisions and organises its functions. Until now researchers have had few opportunities to directly sample lymph nodes and this award will enable the formation of a national network to facilitate lymph node research. The information gained from studying lymph nodes will be hugely important for research across a spectrum of diseases, from rheumatoid arthritis to cancer.”
The Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford has developed a safe method to directly study lymph nodes through fine needle aspiration guided by ultrasound. This technique has been developed with support from the Experimental Medicine Clinical Research Facility, the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and funded by the MRC/UKRI and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Newcastle University is exploring treatments involving direct injection of white blood cells into lymph nodes to combat rheumatoid arthritis, which was supported by Versus Arthritis and the NIHR Newcastle BRC. Cardiff University is studying why older people respond poorly to vaccines/infections and developing novel approaches to mitigate this.
The LEGACY network is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).