Jen McCavitt
MSci student

Georgia was kind enough to welcome me into the Perona Lab in November 2021 for my MSci placement year. Whilst my undergraduate degree is in genetics, I have a fascination with immunology that I have been very lucky to be able to explore here. I am particularly interested in how genetic stratification of immunological response to diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may be able to help improve treatment outcomes.

I have an extensive background working on the admin side of the NHS; these jobs helped me realise how much I wanted to be involved in research, especially as I have seen first-hand how innovative treatments can make a massive difference to people’s daily lives.

My current project in Georgia’s lab is focused on determining if hypoxia in lymph node germinal centres impact effector cell metabolism, and ultimately whether there is an improved or lessened immune response because of this. Currently, I am working with tissue from C57BL/6 and Collagen-Induced Arthritis (CIA) mice, learning immunofluorescence staining and qPCR techniques to help answer this research question.