Molecular Immunity Unit

Menna Clatworthy

Decoding tissue immunity across organs

Menna Clatworthy
Group Members
  • Tas Ahmed
  • Tho-Al Fakar Al‑Aubodah
  • Kasra Bahadori
  • Emily Beltran
  • Linus Butt
  • Ruzaika Cader
  • Yang Cao
  • Michael Chen‑Xu
  • Mark Cheng
  • Rory Fitzroy
  • Colin Lee
  • Sylvia Ling ZeQi
  • Kevin Loudon
  • James Mccaffrey
  • Dominic McGovern
  • Karen Neish
  • Alyssa Nicholls
  • Dimple Patel
  • Nathan Richoz
  • Joseph Shaw
  • Andrew Stewart
  • Benjamin Stewart
  • Ondrej Suchanek
  • Benjy Tan
  • Giorgio Trivioli
  • Patrick Trotter
  • Ping-Huang Tsai
  • Daisuke Tsukui
  • Joshua Wade
  • Qianchang (Dennis) Wang
  • Roy Zhang

Our group studies tissue immunity. The study of human immunity has historically focussed on investigating circulating cells, but there is growing recognition that every organ houses a range of immune cells adapted to tissue-specific environmental cues. We use human organs and model systems, applying single-cell genomic and advanced imaging technologies to investigate tissue immunity across different organs. We are interested in how tissue environments influence resident immune cells, how these interactions change in disease and with age and how tissue immunity is linked between organs, for example, between the gastrointestinal tract and the brain. 

Confocal image of human kidney showing glomerular cell types. Data generated by Dr Nathan Richoz, Senior postdoc Clatworthy group.
Confocal image of human kidney showing glomerular cell types. Data generated by Nathan Richoz, senior postdoc in the Clatworthy group.

Selected Publications

Temporal profiling of human lymphoid tissues reveals coordinated defense against viral challenge.Coates ML, Richoz N, Tuong ZK, Bowyer GS, Lee CYC, Ferdinand JR, Gillman E, McClure M, Dratva L, Teichmann SA, Jayne DR, Di Marco Barros R, Stewart BJ, Clatworthy MRNat Immunol 26(2): 215-229 (2025)
Venous-plexus-associated lymphoid hubs support meningeal humoral immunity.Fitzpatrick Z, Ghabdan Zanluqui N, Rosenblum JS, Tuong ZK, Lee CYC, Chandrashekhar V, Negro-Demontel ML, Stewart AP, Posner DA, Buckley M, Allinson KSJ, Mastorakos P, Chittiboina P, Maric D, Donahue D, Helmy A, Tajsic T, Ferdinand JR, Portet A, Peñalver A, Gillman E, Zhuang Z, Clatworthy MR, McGavern DBNature 628(8008): 612-619 (2024)
Gut-educated IgA plasma cells defend the meningeal venous sinuses.Fitzpatrick Z, Frazer G, Ferro A, Clare S, Bouladoux N, Ferdinand J, Tuong ZK, Negro-Demontel ML, Kumar N, Suchanek O, Tajsic T, Harcourt K, Scott K, Bashford-Rogers R, Helmy A, Reich DS, Belkaid Y, Lawley TD, McGavern DB, Clatworthy MRNature 587(7834): 472-476 (2021)
Spatiotemporal immune zonation of the human kidney.Stewart BJ, Ferdinand JR, Young MD, Mitchell TJ, Loudon KW, Riding AM, Richoz N, Frazer GL, Staniforth JUL, Vieira Braga FA, Botting RA, Popescu DM, Vento-Tormo R, Stephenson E, Cagan A, Farndon SJ, Polanski K, Efremova M, Green K, Del Castillo Velasco-Herrera M, Guzzo C, Collord G, Mamanova L, Aho T, Armitage JN, Riddick ACP, Mushtaq I, Farrell S, Rampling D, Nicholson J, Filby A, Burge J, Lisgo S, Lindsay S, Bajenoff M, Warren AY, Stewart GD, Sebire N, Coleman N, Haniffa M, Teichmann SA, Behjati S, Clatworthy MRScience 365(6460): 1461-1466 (2020)