Leo James's Biography

Leo James, , MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

Leo received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University in 2000, where he worked on antibody structure and design including the first humanised antibody CAMPATH. He post-doc’d in the labs of Prof. Dan Tawfik and Sir Greg Winter, investigating molecular mechanisms of antibody pathogenicity. In 2007, Leo established an independent group at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge (http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/group-leaders/h-to-m/l-james). His lab studies intracellular host-pathogen interactions, in particular during early post-entry infection, using a broad range of in vitro and in vivo techniques. Leo’s lab discovered the interface on HIV capsid that is used to recruit cofactors for nuclear import and the dynamic pores through which the virus recruits dNTPs for encapsidated DNA synthesis. He also discovered TRIM21, the mammalian cytosolic antibody receptor, and continues to work on the molecular mechanisms that underpin intracellular humoral immunity and its role in antiviral defence.