• Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, 2011 
• PhD Immunology, 2005 
• MSc Immunology, 2001 
• BSc (Hons) Molecular Biology, 2000

Zania obtained her PhD in Immunology from Imperial College London in conjunction with the Institute for Animal Health, Compton. Her studies characterised human, bovine and ovine follicular dendritic cells, a stromal cell type with a role in B cell effector functions, viral retention and prion disease. She went on to study the role of signalling molecules in B cell development with Dr Martin Turner at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge.

Zania came to the University of Birmingham in 2005 to study virus transmission and humoral immunity to infection in Prof. Jane McKeating’s Hepatitis C Research Group. She then moved on to the NIHR Biomedical Research Unit Centre for Liver Research with Prof. David Adams, to study lymphocyte-hepatocyte interactions and liver immunology.

She is now a Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow funded by the Royal Society to investigate the role of lymphocytes as vehicles for virus transmission. Zania is interested in defining the complex role of lymphocytes in persistent infections, both from an immunology and a virology perspective.

Zania is a member of Women in Academic Medicine and Science (WAMS) steering group and the Athena SWAN committee. She is on the editorial boards of journals for virology and hepatology and is a STEM ambassador to promote Science and Technology for children and young people.

Teaching Programmes

Biomedical Science BSc (BMedSc)

Zania is Deputy Lead for the Liver Biology Module which is lead by Dr Patricia Lalor.

Medicine and Surgery MBChB

Teaching on the 3/4 year intercalator module for liver biology.

Facilitating small groups of year 1 students in Integrated Problems module.

“Liver Disease: Looking after your Liver”

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) run by Futurelearn.

This course runs twice a year, and allows access to materials for months after registration. Register for free here to join a student community from around the world, to gain:

• an insight into liver biology and how to look after your liver
• a taste of our work at the Centre for Liver Research
• access to resources for months beyond completion of this course

“Liver Transplant: the Ins and Outs”

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) run by Futurelearn.

This course runs twice a year, and allows access to materials for months after registration.

Register for free here to learn more about liver transplantation with unique insights from our patients, consultants and educators at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, one of the biggest transplant centres in Europe.

Zania is interested in supervising doctoral research students in the following areas:

• The role of lymphocytes in viral transmission
• Lymphocyte-hepatocyte interactions in liver pathobiology
• Viral immunology of persistent infections

If you are interesting in studying any of these subject areas please contact Zania on the contact details above, or for any general doctoral research enquiries, please email: dr@contacts.bham.ac.uk or call +44 (0)121 414 5005

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

RESEARCH THEMES

Hepatitis C infection, chronic inflammation, viral persistence, liver immunology, T cell effector functions, antibodies and humoral immunity, vaccines, clinical trials.

RESEARCH ACTIVITY

Zania’s research studies the complex roles of lymphocytes in virus infection.

Antiviral Immunity/ Immunology of the Liver
Hepatitis C virus develops persistence in most infected individuals yet 20% of patients spontaneously resolve the infection. The correlates of this resolution remain unclear. Zania is investigating anti-viral immunity with a focus on B and CD4+ T cell responses in the context of the liver. Access to patient cohorts and human blood and liver from the Queen Elisabeth Hospital enables detailed studies in humans and translational applications of her current research.

Virus Transmission
It is challenging to culture patient-derived virus and the field is limited to the study of few rare isolates that can grow in the laboratory in category III containment level conditions. Zania’s research explores virus transmission from cell to cell, particularly using lymphocytes as viral vehicles for transmission to the liver.

• Women in Academic Medicine and Science (WAMS) steering group committee for Athena SWAN 
• STEM ambassador to promote Science and Technology for children and young people 
• Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCert. LTHE)