| Citation | The immune response has evolved to protect the host from pathogens, however if activated in response to the bodies own tissues or harmless intestinal microbes has the capacity to kill the host. Fiona Powrie was the first to identify specialised regulatory T cells that prevent deleterious inflammatory responses in the gut via the cytokines IL-10 and TGF-beta. Furthermore, she was first to identify the cytokines, IFN-gamma, TNF and IL-23 as causal in inflammatory pathologies of the gut. These findings represented a new paradigm in the field of immune regulation and have opened up new therapeutic strategies in chronic inflammatory diseases. |