Dr Nicolas Pionnier
Position
Lecturer in Immunology at Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr Nicolas Pionnier is a Lecturer in Immunology at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). With a Master in Parasitology from the Montpellier University (France) in 2008 and a PhD in fish immunology from Keele University (UK) in 2012, he consolidated his expertise in parasite immunology through post-doctoral research assistant positions at the French National Natural History Museum in Paris (France) until 2014 and then at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM, UK) until 2019. He thus explored and dissected immune responses to filarial infections with a keen interest in innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) and their role in metabolic diseases, immune memory, and resistance to infection. While at LSTM, he joined the A-WOL consortium (https://awol.lstmed.ac.uk/contributed) aimed at developing new drugs against onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis). He has been significantly involved in the pre-clinical testing of several anti-filarial drugs candidates, with some having since then progressed through the Phase II clinical trials. He then wanted to explore new horizons and further contribute to the drug discovery field so he joined the Charles River Portishead (UK) site as a Cell Biology Team Leader in 2019 driving and coordinating execution of complex but exciting immunology projects. He then joined MMU in 2022 as a Lecturer in Immunology (https://www.mmu.ac.uk/staff/profile/dr-nicolas-pionnier) as he was feeling he was not done yet with his research on ILCs and thanks to a Royal Society research grant obtained in 2023 he is further investigating the role and dynamics of natural killer cells in the context of helminth infections (filariasis, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis).
Most of the above career highlights and achievements wouldn’t have been possible without the support, help and fruitful networking opportunities he benefitted from the BSP since he joined in 2010 as a student. He is delightful to be part of a such vibrant and dynamic society and he will do his best to support our society as a BSP Council member.