About
Dr Adnan Khan is the NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Ophthalmology at the University of Southampton. He is undertaking ‘bench-to-bedside’ research into the immunological basis of sight-threatening eye diseases, including Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). He is a clinician-scientist in training, combining research with higher specialty training in ophthalmology.
Adnan joined the University of Southampton in 2019. His passion for medical research developed at University College London (UCL) Medical School, where he interrupted his medical studies to undertake an intercalated PhD in transplantation immunology with Professors Andrew George MBE and Giovanna Lombardi at Imperial College London. He investigated the use of dendritic cell immunotherapy to induce donor-specific transplantation tolerance. Adnan demonstrated that dendritic cells (the body’s ‘professional’ antigen-presenting cells), modified using lentiviral vectors to inhibit co-stimulation to alloreactive T cells, can prevent corneal graft rejection. This was mediated by the generation of antigen-specific regulatory T cells (Tregs). The research was funded by the Roche Organ Transplantation Research Foundation (ROTRF), a registered medical research charity based in Switzerland. Adnan was awarded The Transplantation Society (TTS) International Young Investigator Award in 2008 for this work.
Adnan undertook further research in transplantation immunology as an Academic Foundation Doctor in Professor Kathryn Wood’s Transplantation Research Immunology Group (TRIG) at the University of Oxford before entering Ophthalmology training in Scotland. At Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, he became a co-investigator of clinical trials in uveitis, working together with a team of clinician-scientists in the department of ophthalmology.
He is currently working with Professor Andrew Lotery at the University of Southampton to elucidate the inflammatory mechanisms underlying the development of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). AMD is predicted to affect 288 million people worldwide by 2040, with no curative treatments currently available for this progressive disease that results in loss of central vision.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Age-Related Macular Degeneration
- Ocular Immunology
- Immunosenescence
- Immunological Tolerance
- Transplantation Immunology
Current research
There is increasing evidence that the dysregulation of immune responses has a role in the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). With increasing age, there is a general decline in the immune system and thymic function, termed immunosenescence. This phenomenon is believed to result in an increased susceptibility to infections, cancer and autoimmune diseases with ageing.
Adnan’s current research interests are the role of immunosenescence, and adaptive immune responses, in the pathogenesis of AMD.
He is supported by Wessex Medical Research (WMR) and the Gift of Sight Charity, Southampton.
Research projects
Active projects
Publications
Teaching
Nominated for 'Excellent Clinical Teacher' Award by University of Southampton Medical Students in 2021
- Undergraduate Medicine Programmes (BM)- Year 4 Ophthalmology Clinical Instructor.
- Undergraduate Medicine Programmes (BM)- Year 3 Student Selected Unit (SSU) in Ophthalmology Instructor.
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
Qualifications
- FRCOphth, Ophthalmology, The Royal College of Ophthalmologists, London, 2019.
- PhD, Transplantation Immunology, Imperial College London, 2009.
- MB BS, Medicine, University College London (UCL) Medical School, 2012.
- BSc (Hons)- Intercalated, Immunology and Cell Pathology, University College London (UCL), 2004.
Appointments held
- 2021 – Present, Honorary Fellow in Uveitis and Medical Retina, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
- 2019 – Present, NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Ophthalmology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
- 2019 – Present, Honorary Specialty Registrar in Ophthalmology, University Hospital Southampton (UHS) NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK.
- 2014 – 2019, Specialty Registrar in Ophthalmology, NHS Education for Scotland: North of Scotland Deanery at Aberdeen and Inverness, Scotland, UK.
- 2014 – 2016, Honorary Clinical Research Fellow, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK.
- 2012 – 2014, Academic Foundation Doctor, Oxford University Clinical Academic Graduate School (OUCAGS), University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals.
Prizes
- The Transplantation Society (TTS) International Young Investigator Award (2008)
- Bernard Hart Prize in Clinical Neurosciences (UCL Medical School) (2011)
- Atchison and Magrath Prize in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (UCL Medical School) (2010)