Katie Doores

Katherine Jane Doores is a British biochemist who is a senior lecturer in the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences at King's College London. During the COVID-19 pandemic Doores studied the levels of antibodies in patients who had suffered from coronavirus disease.[1]

Katie J. Doores
Born
Katherine Jane Doores

United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
EducationUniversity of Oxford
OccupationBiochemist
Years active2007-present

Early life and education

Doores was born in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Doores received an MChem in chemistry from the University of Oxford. In 2008, Doores received a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Oxford. Ben G. Davis was her advisor.[2] In 2013, she completed post doctoral work in the Department of Immunology and Microbial Sciences at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.

Research and career

When Doores was a graduate student at Oxford, she studied glycoimmunology in the laboratory of professor Davis.[3] Glycoimmunology is an emerging research field which looks at how immune response is moderated by carbohydrates (glycans). At the Scripps Research Institute as part of her post doctoral work, she worked on the glycobiology on HIV and broadly-neutralizing antibodies.[4] At Scripps, Doores worked alongside Dennis Burton, where she studied the "flower-like" envelope protein on HIV. These envelope protein penetrates host cells and create antibody-resistant glycans.[5] By investigating this envelope protein, Doores looked to identify sites which are involved with viral function. By neutralising sites such as these (the high-mannose patch), Doores hoped to protect against HIV infection.[5][6]

From 2013 to 2017, Doores was a lecturer in the Department of Infectious Diseases at King's College London. Doores was awarded a Medical Research Council fellowship to establish her own laboratory at King's College. She was made a European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Young Investigator in 2017.[7] In 2017, Doores became a senior lecturer in the Department of Infectious Diseases at King's College.

Many disease-causing pathogens are coated in carbohydrates. Moores investigates the behaviour of these carbohydrates in host–pathogen interactions. She hopes that by understanding the role of these carbohydrates it will be possible to develop novel therapeutic strategies and vaccinations. Alongside developing new medical therapies, Moores is interested in how the body responds to carbohydrate antigens in the form of antibody recognition.[8] Her work has primarily focussed on the carbohydrate antigens on HIV-1.[8] The envelope glycoprotein GP120 of HIV-1 is covered in N-linked-glycans. These glycans are the target of BNabs (broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies), and Moores is studying how these antibodies evolve in vivo.[8] This understanding will allow the develop of new vaccines that encourage the generation of antibodies that can protect against pathogenic bacteria.[8]

During the COVID-19 pandemic Doores studied the levels of antibodies in patients who had suffered from coronavirus disease in Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.[9][10] Her research showed that while 60% of coronavirus disease patients elicited a strong antibody response, only 17% of them retained this potency three months later.[1][11][12] In some cases, patients entirely lost their antibody response.[1] These results implied that immunity to coronavirus disease might be short lived, and that people may become reinfected during a second wave of infection.[1]

Selected publications

References
  1. Sample, Ian (12 July 2020). "Immunity to Covid-19 could be lost in months, UK study suggests". The Guardian.
  2. Doores, Katie J. (2007). Novel Methods for the Synthesis of Glycoimmunological Probes (PhD). University of Oxford. Mathematical and Physical Sciences Division. OCLC 232193273.
  3. "The Davis Group - Former Members". The Davis Group. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  4. "Viral Glycobiology: Chemistry of Infection and Therapeutics". Royal Society of Chemistry. 13 April 2010.
  5. "Hitting a Moving Target: AIDS Vaccine Could Work Against Changeable Site on HIV". News & Views. La Jolla, CA: The Scripps Research Institute. 14 (17). 2 June 2014.
  6. Sok, D.; Doores, K. J.; Briney, B.; Le, K. M.; Saye-Francisco, K. L.; Ramos, A.; Kulp, D. W.; Julien, J.-P.; Menis, S.; Wickramasinghe, L.; Seaman, M. S.; Schief, W. R.; Wilson, I. A.; Poignard, P.; Burton, D. R. (14 May 2014). "Promiscuous Glycan Site Recognition by Antibodies to the High-Mannose Patch of gp120 Broadens Neutralization of HIV". Science Translational Medicine. 6 (236): 236ra63. doi:10.1126/SCITRANSLMED.3008104. PMC 4095976. PMID 24828077. Wikidata ()
  7. "EMBO welcomes 28 new young investigators". American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 25 October 2017.
  8. "The Doores Lab". Kings College London. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  9. Seow, Jeffrey; Graham, Carl; Merrick, Blair; Acors, Sam; Steel, Kathryn J.A.; Hemmings, Oliver; O'Bryne, Aoife; Kouphou, Neophytos; Pickering, Suzanne; Galao, Rui; Betancor, Gilberto; Wilson, Harry D; Signell, Adrian W; Winstone, Helena; Kerridge, Claire; Temperton, Nigel; Snell, Luke; Bisnauthsing, Karen; Moore, Amelia; Green, Adrian; Martinez, Lauren; Stokes, Brielle; Honey, Johanna; Izquierdo-Barras, Alba; Arbane, Gill; Patel, Amita; OConnell, Lorcan; O Hara, Geraldine; MacMahon, Eithne; Douthwaite, Sam; Nebbia, Gaia; Batra, Rahul; Martinez-Nunez, Rocio; Edgeworth, Jonathan D.; Neil, Stuart J.D.; Malim, Michael H.; Doores, Katie (11 July 2020). "Longitudinal evaluation and decline of antibody responses in SARS-CoV-2 infection" (PDF). MedRxiv (preprint). doi:10.1101/2020.07.09.20148429. S2CID 220480492.
  10. "Covid-19 antibodies can decline over time, research suggests". Kings College London. 13 July 2020.
  11. Newman, Cathy; Doores, Katie (13 July 202). "'Perhaps we're not going to be producing long-term antibody responses that would prevent infection' – Dr Katie Doores, King's College London". Channel 4.
  12. Ellyatt, Holly (14 July 2020). "Immunity to the coronavirus may last only a few months, UK study finds". CNBC.
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