Professor Alex Richter MBChB, MRCP, FRCPath, MD

Alex Richter

Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy
Professor and Honorary Consultant in Clinical Immunology

Contact details

Telephone
+44(0)121 414 4069
Fax
+44(0)121 414 3069
Email
a.g.richter@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy
College of Medical and Dental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Alex has been leading a team of experts from the University of Birmingham to develop a SARS-CoV-2 antibody test focussed on improving detection in individuals with mild COVID-19 disease. In collaboration with The Binding Site this is being commercialised.

In collaboration with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and Birmingham Dental Hospital this test has been used to investigate seroprevalence in NHS medical and dental staff, determine antibody status for Oxford vaccine study and determine COVID -19 to be the cause of a newly emerged multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children.

Qualifications

  • MBChB (Birmingham)
  • MRCP (London)
  • FRCPath
  • MD (Birmingham)

Biography

Professor Alex Richter earned her undergraduate medical degree from the University of Birmingham (UoB) and undertook her junior doctor training within the British Army. After 10 years military service she returned to Birmingham to undertake a doctorate exploring the immunology of pulmonary vasculitis and interstitial lung disease. She undertook specialist training in Clinical Immunology and was appointed Clinical Lecturer at UoB to complete her training. She established clinical immunology and allergy services at University Hospitals Birmingham, where she is now a Consultant Clinical Immunologist and won a Best in Care award in 2018.

She is Professor of Clinical Immunology and Director of the Clinical Immunology Service. Her research interests are focussed around secondary immunodeficiency and understanding vaccination responses.

Teaching

Alex undertakes regular teaching at the University and clinical teaching and lecturing on her research areas.

  • Awarded the 2019 REME Teaching Award (Recognising Excellence in Medical Education).
  • Examiner for the Royal College of Pathologists.

Postgraduate supervision

Doctorates

  • MD – Prevalence of MGUS in acute admissions
  • PhD – Role of B cells in HIV
  • PhD - The role of B cells in non small cell lung cancer (current)
  • PhD - The Immunology of recurrent miscarriage (current)
  • DClinSci - Prevalence of secondary immunodeficiency in stem cell transplant recovery (current)

Other

  • Regularly supervisors masters and batchelor degree projects
  • Educational supervisor for clinical lecturer and academic clinical fellow

If you are interesting in studying any of these subject areas please contact Professor Alex Richter directly, or for any general doctoral research enquiries, please email mds-gradschool@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

For a full list of available Doctoral Research opportunities, please visit our Doctoral Research programme listings.

Research

Research interests include the emerging field of secondary immunodeficiency; developing diagnostics, exploring vaccination responses and management of patients with an immunodeficiency secondary to either malignancy or prolonged immunosuppression for an inflammatory disorder. For many cancers and inflammatory conditions, infection is one of the most significant causes of death and optimising and supporting the immune system can potentially reduce this risk.

During the SARS-CoV 2 pandemic Alex lead a team that developed a high sensitivity antibody test that was commercialised by The Binding Site. This assay was used to establish seroprevalence in a large staff cohort study at UHB (COCO), a Birmingham dental cohort and a haemodialysis cohort. Alex has helped establish the Birmingham Turnkey laboratory to contribute to the pillar 2 testing effort.

Current grants

  • 2020: Confidence in Concept MRC: Development of an annual influenza serotype antibody ELISA
  • 2020: COPE-Birmingham: The contribution of occupational exposures to risk of COVID-19 and approaches to control among healthcare workers. DHSC/UKRI COVID-19 Rapid Response Initiative
  • 2020: Development of antibody-based testing for SARS-CoV-2. Proximity to Discovery, MRC
  • 2020: Developing a point of care diagnostic tool for COVID-19 for use in LMIC settings. Institute for Global Innovation (IGI)
  • 2019: Investigating immunity in post-transplant LPD in a clinical trial cohort. Rosetree foundation. Co-investigator.
  • 2019: Treating plagues – public engagement grant from BSI. Co-investigator
  • 2018: Does hospitalisation of older patients with severe community acquired pneumonia and sepsis lead to long term immunoparesis? MRC (MR/S002782/1): Co- investigator

Other activities

University of Birmingham

External appointments

  • Myeloma UK -  Early Diagnosis Steering Committee
  • UK Primary Immunodeficiency Network UKPIN – Trustee
  • NIHR CRF specialist advisory committee at UHB

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Reynolds, JA, Faustini, SE, Tosounidou, S, Plant, T, Ubhi, M, Gilman, R, Richter, AG & Gordon, C 2023, 'Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies following vaccination are associated with lymphocyte count and serum immunoglobulins in SLE', Lupus. https://doi.org/10.1177/09612033231151603

The COVID-19 Genomics U. K. (COG-UK) Consortium, Modat, M, Hammers, A, Spector, TD, Steves, CJ, Sudre, CH, Ourselin, S & Duncan, EL 2022, 'COVID-19 due to the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant compared to B.1.1.7 (Alpha) variant of SARS-CoV-2: a prospective observational cohort study', Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, 10904. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14016-0

Bagkou Dimakou, D, Tamblyn, J, Justin, C, Coomarasamy, A & Richter, A 2022, 'Diagnosis and management of idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL): Current immune testing and immunomodulatory treatment practice in the United Kingdom', Journal of reproductive immunology, vol. 153, pp. 103662. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jri.2022.103662

Shields, AM, Tadros, S, Al-Hakim, A, Nell, JM, Lin, MMN, Chan, M, Goddard, S, Dempster, J, Dziadzio, M, Patel, SY, Elkalifa, S, Huissoon, A, Duncan, CJA, Herwadkar, A, Khan, S, Bethune, C, Elcombe, S, Thaventhiran, J, Klenerman, P, Lowe, DM, Savic, S, Burns, SO & Richter, AG 2022, 'Impact of vaccination on hospitalization and mortality from COVID-19 in patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiency: The United Kingdom experience', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 13, 984376. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.984376

Parry, H, McIlroy, G, Moss, P, Damery, S, Tyson, G, Logan, N, Davis, C, Willett, B, Zuo, J, Ali, M, Kaur, M, Stephens, C, Brant, D, Otter, A, McSkeane, T, Rolfe, H, Faustini, S, Richter, A, Lee, S, Wandroo, F, Shafeek, S, Pratt, G, Paneesha, S & Moss, P 2022, 'Impaired neutralisation of SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in vaccinated patients with B cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia', Journal of Hematology and Oncology, vol. 15, no. 1, 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13045-021-01219-7

COV-AD consortium 2022, 'Increased Seroprevalence and Improved Antibody Responses Following Third Primary SARS-CoV-2 Immunisation: An Update From the COV-AD Study', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 13, 912571. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.912571

Outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiency in the UK group 2022, 'Outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiency in the UK', Clinical and Experimental Immunology, vol. 209, no. 3, uxac008, pp. 247-258. https://doi.org/10.1093/cei/uxac008

Khan, A, Reyat, J, Hill, H, Bourne, J, Colicchia, M, Newby, ML, Allen, JD, Crispin, M, Youd, E, Murray, P, Taylor, G, Stamataki, Z, Richter, A, Cunningham, A, Pugh, M & Rayes, J 2022, 'Preferential uptake of SARS-CoV-2 by pericytes potentiates vascular damage and permeability in an organoid model of the microvasculature', Cardiovascular Research, pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1093/cvr/cvac097

Wilkinson, SAJ, Richter, A, Casey, A, Osman, H, Mirza, JD, Stockton, J, Quick, J, Ratcliffe, L, Sparks, N, Cumley, N, Poplawski, R, Nicholls, SN, Kele, B, Harris, K, Peacock, TP & Loman, NJ 2022, 'Recurrent SARS-CoV-2 mutations in immunodeficient patients', Virus evolution, vol. 8, no. 2, veac050. https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/veac050

Patel, AJ, Willsmore, ZN, Khan, N, Richter, A, Naidu, B, Drayson, MT, Papa, S, Cope, A, Karagiannis, SN, Perucha, E & Middleton, GW 2022, 'Regulatory B cell repertoire defects predispose lung cancer patients to immune-related toxicity following checkpoint blockade', Nature Communications, vol. 13, no. 1, 3148. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30863-x

Kidd, SP, Burns, D, Armson, B, Beggs, AD, Howson, ELA, Williams, A, Snell, G, Wise, EL, Goring, A, Vincent-Mistiaen, Z, Grippon, S, Sawyer, J, Cassar, C, Cross, D, Lewis, T, Reid, SM, Rivers, S, James, J, Skinner, P, Banyard, A, Davies, K, Ptasinska, A, Whalley, C, Ferguson, J, Bryer, C, Poxon, C, Bosworth, A, Kidd, M, Richter, A, Burton, J, Love, H, Fouch, S, Tillyer, C, Sowood, A, Patrick, H, Moore, N, Andreou, M, Morant, N, Houghton, R, Parker, J, Slater-Jefferies, J, Brown, I, Gretton, C, Deans, Z, Porter, D, Cortes, NJ, Douglas, A, Hill, SL, Godfrey, KM & Fowler, VL 2022, 'Reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification has high accuracy for detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 in saliva and nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs from asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals', Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 320-336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmoldx.2021.12.007

COV-AD consortium 2022, 'SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Responses in Individuals with Antibody Deficiency: Findings from the COV-AD Study', Journal of Clinical Immunology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10875-022-01231-7

Lamerton, R, Marcial-Juarez, E, Faustini, S, Perez-Toledo, M, Goodall, M, Jossi, S, Newby, ML, Chapple, I, Dietrich, T, Veenith, T, Shields, A, Harper, L, Henderson, I, Rayes, J, Wraith, D, Watson, S, Crispin, M, Drayson, M, Richter, A & Cunningham, A 2022, 'SARS-CoV-2 spike- and nucleoprotein-specific antibodies induced after vaccination or infection promote classical complement activation', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 13, 838780. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.838780

Lugg, ST, Mackay, WR, Faniyi, AA, Faustini, SE, Webster, C, Duffy, JE, Hewison, M, Shields, AM, Parekh, D, Richter, AG, Scott, A & Thickett, DR 2022, 'Vitamin D status: a U-shaped relationship for SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in UK healthcare workers', BMJ Open Respiratory Research, vol. 9, no. 1, e001258. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjresp-2022-001258

Letter

Parry, H, Bruton, R, Roberts, T, Mcilroy, G, Damery, S, Sylla, P, Dowell, AC, Tut, G, Lancaster, T, Bone, D, Willett, B, Logan, N, Scott, S, Hulme, S, Jadir, A, Amin, U, Nicol, S, Stephens, C, Faustini, S, Al-taei, S, Richter, A, Blakeway, D, Verma, K, Margielewska-davies, S, Pearce, H, Pratt, G, Zuo, J, Paneesha, S & Moss, P 2022, 'COVID-19 vaccines elicit robust cellular immunity and clinical protection in chronic lymphocytic leukemia', Cancer Cell, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 584-586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2022.05.001

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