Professor Matthias Eberl

Biography

Honours and awards

• 2022: Microbiology Outreach Prize, Microbiology Society (to Dr Jon Tyrrell on behalf of the 'Superbugs' team)
• 2021: Poster Prize "Education & Public Engagement", British Society for Immunology (on behalf of the 'Superbugs' team)
• 2018: Promotion to Personal Chair, Cardiff University
• 2015: Promotion to Reader, Cardiff University
• 2011: Promotion to Senior Lecturer, Cardiff University
• 2009: Best Free Communications Prize, European Peritoneal Dialysis Meeting, Strasbourg, France
• 2007: RCUK Fellowship in Translational Research in Experimental Medicine
• 2007: Wellcome Trust 'VIP' Award

Professional memberships

Speaking engagements

Committees and reviewing

Leadership roles

• since 2020: Joint Academic Lead for Public Involvement and Engagement, School of Medicine, Cardiff University
• since 2015: Engagement Lead, Systems Immunity Research Institute, Cardiff University
• since 2014: Chair of PhD Appraisal Panels, Infection & Immunity, Cardiff University
• since 2011: Founder and Administrator, γδ T Cell Forum
• since 2009: Web Editor, Infection & Immunity, Cardiff University

PhD examiner

• Cardiff University
• King's College London
• Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
• National University of Ireland, Maynooth
• University of Antwerp, Belgium
• University of Bordeaux, France
• Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
• University of Lisbon, Portugal
• University of Palermo, Italy
• Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Reviewer for funding bodies

• AERES - Evaluation Agency for Research and Higher Education, France
• ATIP-Avenir (CNRS/Inserm), France
• Barts and The London Charity, UK
• BBSRC - Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, UK
• Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, Germany
• Breast Cancer Now, UK
• Cancer Research UK
• Crohn’s in Childhood Research Association (CICRA), UK
• Crohn's and Colitis UK
• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany
• Dutch Cancer Society (KWF), Netherlands
• Dutch Research Council (NWO), Netherlands
• European Research Council (ERC)
• European Science Foundation (ESF)
• Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, France
• German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development
• Institut National du Cancer (INCa), France
• Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund, UK
• Kidney Research UK
• King’s Health Partners R&D Challenge Fund, UK
• MRC - Medical Research Council, UK
• Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, Israel
• Multiple Sclerosis Society, UK
• National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), UK
• National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), UK
• Research Council of Norway
• Research Grants Council, Hong Kong
• University College Cork, Ireland
• University of Liège, Belgium
• Wellcome Trust, UK
• Wilhelm Sander Foundation, Germany

Reviewer for scientific journals

• American Journal of Physiology – Renal Physiology
• Blood
• Bone
• BMC Immunology
• Breast Cancer Research
• Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy
• Cancer Research
• Carcinogenesis
• Cell Biochemistry & Function
• Cell Reports
• Cellular Immunology
• Chronobiology International
• Clinical Cancer Research
• Clinical and Developmental Immunology
• Clinical and Experimental Immunology
• Clinical and Experimental Medicine
• Communications Biology
• Current Cancer Drug Targets
• Current Immunology Reviews
• Cytokine
• Discovery Immunology
• EBioMedicine
• EMBO Reports
• European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases
• European Journal of Immunology
• Experimental Parasitology
• FASEB Journal
• FEBS Journal
• Frontiers in Immunology
• Haematologica
• Human Immunology
• Immunology
• Immunology and Cell Biology
• Immunology Letters
• Infection and Immunity
• International Immunology
• International Journal of Artificial Organs
• International Journal of Immunogenetics
• International Urology and Nephrology
• Journal of the American Chemical Society
• Journal of the American Society of Nephrology
• Journal of Biological Chemistry
• Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents
• Journal of Clinical Investigation
• Journal of Experimental Medicine
• Journal of Immunology
• Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Journal of Leukocyte Biology
• Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
• Journal of Molecular Medicine
• Journal of Translational Medicine
• Kidney International
• Malaria Journal
• Microbes and Infection
• Molecular Immunology
• Mucosal Immunology
• Nature
• Nature Communications
• Nature Reviews Immunology
• Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation
• OncoImmunology
• Oncology Reviews
• Parasite Immunology
• Peritoneal Dialysis International
• PLoS ONE
• PLoS Pathogens
• Science Translational Medicine
• Scientific Reports
• Trends in Immunology
• Trends in Molecular Medicine
• Trends in Parasitology

Publications

• Date
• Type
• Selected

Teaching

In order to overcome the awe-inspiring complexity of the immune system and press it into digestible portions, immunology teaching is often in the danger of over-simplifying scenarios and/or following temporary fashions.  The main challenges are to keep up abreast with the latest literature and incorporate recent advances into the lessons; to transport one’s own enthusiasm for science to the students; to demonstrate that even the most complex mechanisms can be of enormous clinical relevance in health and disease; and to confront students with standard methods in diagnostic and research labs, but also to make them aware of the possibilities of modern technology.  My goal is to educate open-minded and critical students that are provided with all the scientific but also interpersonal tools required for being capable of questioning contemporary points of view and solving new problems.

I am committed to supporting the C21 medical curriculum by teaching, learning and professional updating. I contribute to effective small group teaching within the Year 2 SSC module “Interactive Immunology” every year and for Year 1 SSC literature reviews, and have taught in modules on immunopathology/immunotherapeutics and on biomarkers/diagnostics to Year 3 and intercalated students, and given small group tutorials to Year 1 students. Since 2010 I have been acting as Personal Tutor/Academic Mentor for Medicine students.

I have trained and mentored undergraduate and postgraduate students in the laboratory, including work experience and summer students, an internship students from France and Germany, and have trained PhD students from the UK, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Netherlands, Poland and Taiwan in my laboratory. I have supervised nine and co-supervised a further five PhD students, all of whom completed, or are on course to complete, their PhD within four years.

I serve as Chair of approx. 15 appraisal panels for PhD and MD students per year, and have been appointed as internal examiner and viva chair of PhD theses at Cardiff University and as external examiner of PhD theses in the UK, Ireland, Austria, France, Belgium, Italy and Portugal.

Supervision

Current supervision

Past projects

PhD – Linda Moet
"Elucidating an immune metabolite pathway in sepsis"
Co-supervisor (Supervisors: Prof. Peter Ghazal, with prof. Valerie O'Donnell)
Thesis submitted

PhD – Ross Burton
"Identifying immunological biomarkers of sepsis using cytometry bioinformatics and machine learning"
Supervisor (Co-supervisors: Dr. Andreas Artemiou, Dr. Matt Morgan, Prof. Peter Ghazal)
Awarded in 2023

MPhil – Emily Jacob
"Immune fingerprinting of bacterial infections in decompensated cirrhosis"
Co-supervisor (Supervisor: Dr. Thomas Pembroke)
Awarded in 2022

MSc – Katie Stanswood
"Immunophenotyping mechansisms of T cell dysfunction during the onset of sepsis"
Co-supervisor (Supervisor: Dr. James McLaren)
Awarded in 2022

MD – Nicola Reeves
"The impact of standardising intra-operative variables on the incidence of surgical site infections in colorectal surgery in Wales"
Co-supervisor (Supervisor: Prof. Jared Torkington)
Awarded in 2022

PhD – Teja Rus
"Human γδ T-APCs: processing of tumour antigens and induction of anti-tumour immunity"
Co-supervisor (Supervisor: Prof. Bernhard Moser)
Awarded in 2021

PhD – Ariadni Kouzeli
"CXCL14 function and target cells in healthy tissues"
Co-supervisor (Supervisor: Prof. Bernhard Moser)
Awarded in 2020

PhD – Amy C Brook
"Local microRNAs in peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis"
Supervisor (Co-supervisors: Prof. Donald Fraser, Dr. Tim Bowen)
Awarded in 2019

PhD – Chris J Tyler
"Control of CD4+ T cell responses by γδ T-APCs"
Supervisor (Co-supervisor: Prof. Bernhard Moser)
Awarded in 2016

PhD – Anna Rita Liuzzi
"Unconventional T-cell driven inflammatory responses during acute peritonitis: implications for diagnosis and therapy of peritoneal dialysis patients"
Supervisor (Co-supervisor: Dr. Tim Bowen)
Awarded in 2015

PhD – Hung-Chang Chen
"Human γδ T cell-based immune therapy for breast cancer"
Supervisor (Co-supervisor: Dr. Richard Clarkson)
Awarded in 2015

PhD – Matt P Morgan
"Immune fingerprinting in acute severe sepsis"
Co-supervisor (Supervisor: Prof. Judith Hall)
Awarded in 2014

PhD – Luke Piggott
"Investigating the therapeutic potential of cellular FLICE-like inhibitory protein and TRAIL in preclinical models of breast cancer"
Co-supervisor (Supervisor: Dr. Richard Clarkson)
Awarded in 2012

PhD – Chan-Yu Lin
"The role of γδ T cells in peritoneal dialysis-associated bacterial infection"
Supervisor (Co-supervisor: Prof. Nicholas Topley)
Awarded in 2012

PhD – Martin S Davey
"Cellular crosstalk of human Vγ9/Vδ2 T cells, neutrophils and monocytes in response to bacterial infections"      
Supervisor (Co-supervisor: Prof. Bernhard Moser)
Awarded in 2012

PhD – Raj R Bansal
"B cell help provided by human γδ T cells"
Supervisor (Co-supervisor: Prof. Bernhard Moser)
Awarded in 2012

Engagement

I am passionate about engaging and involving the public in research and disseminate relevant findings to specialist and lay audiences.

As Engagement Lead for the Systems Immunity Research Institute since 2015, and Academic Lead for Public Involvement and Engagement for the School of Medicine at Cardiff University since 2020 (jointly with Dr Natalie Joseph-Williams), I conceive, oversee and coordinate a wide range of public engagement and involvement activities, and aim to reach out to all stake-holders in our research – patients, health care providers, schools, policy makers, media, funders, industry and the general public.

I work closely with the School of Medicine Engagement Manager Sarah Hatch, the Lead Public Partner Dr Jim Fitzgibbon and the newly appointed MEDIC Champions from across the School of Medicine. Together we have developed a 5-year Action Plan and Infographic to help us embed a culture of public engagement and involvement in all research and teaching activities at the School of Medicine, aligned with the UK Standards for Public Involvement and the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement.

I established and chair a Lay Faculty for the Systems Immunity Research Institute consisting of members of the public who provide valuable feedback on research proposals, study protocols, consent forms, news items and press releases, and help foster a close dialogue between local scientists and the wider public. This Lay Faculty has developed into a flagship involvement activity at Cardiff University and a model for similar approaches elsewhere.

In addition to facilitating and promoting a wide range of smaller and larger engagement and involvement activities by colleagues across the Systems Immunity Research Institute and the School of Medicine, over the past years I directly contributed to activities such as

• An interactive educational resource ('Superbugs') for key stage 2/3 school children (years 3-9), co-produced with teachers from primary and secondary schools and made available trilingually in English, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic [a translation into Irish is planned]
• An interactive pop-up science shop in a repurposed retail unit in the St David's Dewi Sant shopping centre in Cardiff, one of the busiest in the UK, attracting >6,600 visitors
• Participation in science festivals, including the Cardiff Science Festival 2020, Merthyr Tydfil Science Festival 2021 (virtual) and the Zaporizhzhia 'Night of Science' 2022 (virtual, in English and Ukrainian)
• Showcasing Cardiff research on several occasions at Techniquest, the local Science museum in Cardiff
• Promoting the importance of international research and collaboration for Cardiff University, Wales and the UK at receptions in the National Assembly for Wales and the House of Commons
• Hosting the MP for Cardiff Central, Jo Stevens, at the Annual Infection & Immunity Meeting 2017 and during our 'Superbugs' pop-up science shop event in 2019
• Supporting campaigns by organisations such as #WeAreInternational, @the3million and Scientists4EU to raise awareness for international students, EU citizens' rights and EU funding, and their relevance for UK research, education and innovation
• Creating educational computer games for primary schools
• Co-developing a Welsh-medium philosophy/immunology workshop for primary school children
• Establishing contacts with Radio Glamorgan, the local hospital radio station
• Running a Cardiff-wide bus stop poster campaign to promote local research
• Celebrating diversity and equality across Infection & Immunity, the School of Medicine and Cardiff University as a whole
• Setting up a dedicated 'Superbugs' TikTok channel for infection, antimicrobial resistance, COVID-19 and related topics
• Collaborating with BBC Wales on a programme about sepsis involving BBC weatherman Derek Brockway, a 1 hour long documentary on "The Truth About... Boosting Your Immune System", and on sourcing laboratory equipment and props for the BBC Dr Who Christmas Special 2014

As web editor of the Systems Immunity URI and its predecessor, the i3-IRG, over the past >12 years, I have substantially improved the visibility of local research, teaching, innovation and engagement, accompanied by successful social media accounts (>2,400 Twitter followers). I also created an interactive ‘γδ T cell Forum’, which has >2,300 followers from >50 countries and has developed into a key networking resource in the field of unconventional T cells.

Through my participation in the core activities of the British Society for Immunology (BSI), the largest immunological society in Europe, I directly promote immunology-related research, public engagement and education in Wales, the UK and beyond. I was elected as BSI Trustee in 2017, after serving two terms as Regional Representative for Wales on the BSI Forum (2010-2016), the Society’s ‘think tank’. As one of 14 Trustees, I was directly responsible for the effective operation of the Society, with regard to finance, governance, strategy and supervision of its CEO. As of January 2023, I serve as Public Engagement Secretary and member of the BSI Forum. As Chairman of the BSI South Wales regional group (2007-2015), I established Cardiff as one of the most active and visible regional groups in the UK, increased its annual budget eight-fold, and created the prestigious annual Jonathan Boulter Memorial Lecture given by the leading immunologists in the world.

Grant support for public enegagment and involvement work:

2021-2023
British Society for Immunoloy, Communicating Immunology grant.
"Superbugs – An educational resource for school children in the UK and Ireland"
Lead applicant (with Jonathan Tyrrell, Sarah Hatch, Jenny Mannion, Elaine Nic Réamoinn)
£ 1,000

2020-2021
Wellcome Trust ISSF3 Public Engagement Co-production Award.
"Superbugs 2: Digital Dissemination!"
Co-applicant (Lead applicant: Jonathan Tyrrell; with Sarah Hatch, Christie Conlon, Mike Roberts)
£ 12,357

2019-2020
Wellcome Trust ISSF3 Public Engagement Proof-of-Concept Award.
"Science Stitches – communicating science through fashion"
Co-applicant (Lead applicant: Andreia de Almeida; with Ruth Potts, Emma Yhnell, Rachel Stanton, Riccardo Bonsignore, Zoe Hudson, Julia Harris, Sarah Valentin)
£ 7,198

2019
Wellcome Trust ISSF3 Public Engagement Proof-of-Concept Award
"A Pop-up Science Shop!"
Co-applicant (Lead applicant: Jonathan Tyrrell; with Sarah Hatch, Ali Aboklaish)
£ 7,440

2018
Systems Immunity Research Institute Engagement Grant
"Superbugs - The End of Modern Medicine As We Know It?"
Lead applicant (with Micalea Gal, Sarah Hatch)
£ 2,160

2018
Systems Immunity Research Institute Engagement Grant
"Project Sepsis – Sepsis Patient Public Engagement Centre"
Co-applicant (Lead applicant: Widad Dantoft; with Rhian Thomas-Turner, Peter Ghazal, Valerie O’Donnell)
£ 1,890

2017
Systems Immunity Research Institute Engagement Grant
"Learning by playing: developing immunology-based computer games"
Lead applicant (with Mike Reddy, Philip Taylor, Simone Cuff)
£ 1,998

2016
Systems Immunity Research Institute Engagement Grant
"What am I? Who am I?"
Co-applicant (Lead applicant: Awen Gallimore; with Lewis Evans)
£ 600

2016
Systems Immunity Research Institute Engagement Grant
"It’s not rocket science!"
Co-applicant (Lead applicant: David Cole; with Ellyn Hughes)
£ 3,152