Simon Kimuda

Postdoctoral Researcher

King's College London (KCL), United Kingdom (UK) & MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Uganda

Email: simon.kimuda@kcl.ac.uk

VALIDATE Role:

Network Associate

Research Keywords:

Respiratory Infections, Antibodies, B Cells, Epitope Mapping, Tuberculosis, Hantaviruses

Biography:

My main interest lies in the development of vaccines and antibody therapies to prevent and treat respiratory infections in people. I study antibody and B cell responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and hantaviruses to find correlates of protective immunity against these infections. I do so by testing samples from human participants from areas where these diseases are endemic, using a combination of immunological and molecular biological tools. I am able to identify key antibody responses associated with lower likelihoods of infection at population level as well as in in vitro experiments and uncover antigenic epitopes that induce these responses.

Related Websites:

King's College London

Twitter

Key Publications:

Peralta Alvarez MP, Jones H, Redondo Azema H, Davis C, White AD, Sarfas C, Dennis M, Li S, Wright D, Puentes E, Kimuda S, Belij-Rammerstorfer S, Aguilo N, Martin C, Sharpe S, McShane H, Tanner R. Low-dose M.tb infection but not BCG or MTBVAC vaccination enhances heterologous antibody titres in non-human primates. Front Immunol. 2024 May 10;15:1387454. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1387454. PMID: 38799468; PMCID: PMC11116990.
Seow J, Shalim ZA, Graham C, Kimuda S, Pillai A, Lechmere T, Kurshan A, Khimji AM, Snell LB, Nebbia G, Mant C, Waters A, Fox J, Malim MH, Doores KJ. Broad and potent neutralizing mAbs are elicited in vaccinated individuals following Delta/BA.1 breakthrough infection. mBio. 2023 Oct 31;14(5):e0120623. doi: 10.1128/mbio.01206-23. Epub 2023 Sep 25.
Huettner I, Krumm SA, Serna S, Brzezicka K, Monaco S, Walpole S, van Diepen A, Allan F, Hicks T, Kimuda S, Emery AM; IAVI Protocol C Investigators & The IAVI African HIV Research Network, Landais E, Hokke CH, Angulo J, Reichardt N, Doores KJ. Cross-reactivity of glycan-reactive HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies with parasite glycans. Cell Rep. 2022 Mar 29;38(13):110611. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110611. PMID: 35354052.
Kimuda SG, Andia-Biraro I, Sebina I. Egesa M, Nalwoga A, Smith SG, Bagaya BS, Levin J, Elliott AM, Raynes JG, Cose S. Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is associated with increased B cell responses to unrelated pathogens. Sci Rep 10, 14324 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71044-4
Kimuda SG, Biraro IA, Bagaya BS, Raynes JG, Cose S. Characterising antibody avidity in individuals of varied Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection status using surface plasmon resonance. PLoS ONE. 2018; 13(10): e0205102. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205102
Kimuda SG, Andia-Biraro I, Egesa M, Bagaya BS, Raynes JG, Levin J, Elliott AM, Cose S. Use of QuantiFERON®-TB Gold in-tube culture supernatants for measurement of antibody responses. PLoS One. 2017 Nov 21;12(11):e0188396. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188396
Kimuda SG, Nalwoga A, Levin J, Franken KL, Ottenhoff TH, Elliott AM, Cose S, Biraro IA. Humoral Responses to Rv1733c, Rv0081, Rv1735c, and Rv1737c DosR Regulon-Encoded Proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Individuals with Latent Tuberculosis Infection. J Immunol Res. 2017; 2017:8. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1593143