Research

My research focuses on characterising tissue immunity at maximum resolution.
We apply a systems biology approach using "omic" technologies and computational methods.
These are some of the projects I am currently working on.

Humoral immunity in renal pathologies

Affiliations: Clatworthy Lab,
Molecular Immunity Unit

VDJ repertoires in
triple-negative breast cancer

Affiliations: Clatworthy Lab,
Molecular Immunity Unit

Myeloid cell dynamics in cancer immunotherapy

Collaborators: Prof. Dave Withers,
University of Birmingham

Publications

Colin YC Lee, J McCaffrey, D McGovern, M Clatworthy. Profiling immune cell tissue niches in the spatial "omics" era. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, In Press. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2024.11.001.

T Hasegawa, Colin YC Lee, et al. Macrophages and nociceptor neurons form a sentinel unit to defend the synovium from circulating immune challenges. Nature Immunology, Nov 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41590-024-02011-8.

K Bahadori, Colin YC Lee, et al. Inflammatory gene expression in livers undergoing ex situ normothermic perfusion is attenuated by leukocyte removal from the perfusate. Transplantation, Oct 2024. DOI: 10.1097/TP.0000000000005214.    

A Stewart, K Loudon, M Routledge, Colin YC Lee, et al. Neutrophil extracellular traps protect the kidney from ascending infection and are required for a positive leukocyte dipstick test. Science translational medicine, Sept 2024. DOI: 10:1126/scitranslmed.adh5090.

Colin YC Lee, M Clatworthy, D Withers. Decoding changes in tumour-infiltrating leukocytes through dynamic experimental models and single-cell technologies. Immunology and Cell Biology, June 2024. DOI:  10.1111/imcb.12787

Z Fitzpatrick, NG Zanluqui, JS Rosenblum, ZK Tuong, Colin YC Lee, et al. Venous-plexus-associated lymphoid hubs support meningeal humoral immunity. Nature, Mar 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07202-9.

Colin YC Lee, et al. Tumour-retained activated CCR7+ dendritic cells are heterogeneous and regulate local anti-tumour cytolytic activity. Nature Communications, Jan 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44787-1.

IW Dean, Colin YC Lee, et al. Rapid functional impairment of natural killer cells following tumour entry limits anti-tumour immunity. Nature Communications, Jan 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44789-z.

HJ Lim, Colin YC Lee et al. Endoscopic surveillance allows prediction of burden of early signet ring cell carcinoma in Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer syndrome. British Journal of Surgery, Nov 2023. DOI: 10.1093/bjs/znad348.108.

ML Coates, N Richoz, ZK Tuong, G Bowyer, Colin YC Lee, et al. Temporal profiling of human lymphoid tissues reveals coordinated defence to viral challenge. BioRxiv, Sep 2023. DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.15.558006.

Colin YC Lee*, IATM Ferreira*, W Foster* et al. Atypical B cells and impaired SARS-CoV-2 neutralisation following booster vaccination in the elderly. Cell Reports, Aug 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112991.

E Atallah, S Welsh, B O'Carrigan, ..., Colin Lee, et al. Incidence, risk factors and outcomes of checkpoint inhibitor-induced liver injury: a 10-year real-world retrospective cohort study. JHEP reports, Jul 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100851.

M di Pietro, J Honing, Colin YC Lee, R Fitzgerald. Endoscopoic surveillance in hereditary diffuse gastric cancer. The Lancet Oncology, Jul 2023. DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(23)0023109.

C Lim, Y Zhong, R Hopkins, ..., Colin YC Lee, et al. NK cell memory precedes HLH in monozygotic twins discordant for chronic active EBV disease. Blood, Mar 2023. DOI: 10/1182/blood.2022018309.

Colin YC Lee, et al. Endoscopic surveillance with systematic random biopsy for the early diagnosis of hereditary diffuse gastric cancer: a prospective 16-year longitudinal cohort study. The Lancet Oncology, Jan 2023. DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(22)00700-8.

D Posner, Colin YC Lee, A. Portet, M. Clatworthy. Humoral immunity at the brain borders in homeostasis. Current Opinion in Immunology, Jun 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.coi.2022.102188.

Colin YC Lee*, GD Banham*, JR Ferdinand, et al. Bromodomain inhibitors modulate FcγR-mediated mononuclear phagocyte activation and chemotaxis. Frontiers in Immunology, May 2022. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.885101.

JR Thomas, A Appios, X Zhao, ..., Colin YC Lee, et al. Phenotypic and functional characterization of first-trimester human placental macrophages, Hofbauer cells. Journal of Experimental Medicine, Jan 2021. DOI: 10.1084/jem.20200891.

Talks and Resources

Colin YC Lee et al. Interactive CNS border atlas (Online resource). 🔗CNSbordercellatlas.org

University of Cape Town Wellcome LEAP seminar. 'Decoding the spatio-temporal dynamics of tumour immune cells.' Mar 2024.

British Society of Immunology tumour microenvironment conference. 'Tracking the spatio-temporal dynamics of CCR7+ dendritic cells in tumours.' Mar 2024.

Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre Tumour Immunology meeting. 'Tracking the spatio-temporal dynamics of CCR7+ dendritic cells in tumours.' Nov 2023.

European Macrophage and Dendritic cell Society meeting. 'Time-, tissue-, and treatment-associated heterogeneity in tumour-residing migratory DCs.' Oct 2023.

Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory (CSHL) Systems Immunology Meeting. 'Time-, tissue-, and treatment-associated heterogeneity in tumour-residing migratory DCs.' April 2023.

Open Box Science: Meningeal Immunity Seminar. 'A scRNA-seq atlas of immune cells at the CNS borders.' January 2023.

British Society of Immunology congress 2022. 'Temporal labelling and single-cell RNAseq reveals effects of anti-PD-L1 therapy on tumour macrophage fate and function.' December 2022.

UEG Week 2022, Upper-GI neoplasia. 'The role of random biopsies in early diagnosis of signet ring cell carcinoma in hereditary diffuse gastric cancer syndrome: a 16-year longitudinal prospective study.' October 2022. *Grant recipient (for best submitted clinical abstracts); Best presentation award.

Cambridge Immunology Forum 2022. 'CCR7+ migratory DCs regulate cytolytic anti-tumour activity.' September 2022. *Best poster presentation award.

National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Festival 2021, Focus on Immunotherapy. 'Risk factors for immune checkpoint blockade-induced hepatitis.' November 2021. *NCRI award recipient

6th Cambridge University INSPIRE conference. 'Hofbauer cells: Elusive macrophages of the placenta.' March 2020. *Top 5 presentations award recipient.

Caltech summer symposium. 'CRISPR-based design of small molecule transfer motifs in mammalian cells.' August 2019.