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Professor Adrian Martineau, B Med Sci MB BS DTM&H MRCP PhD FRSB

Adrian

Clinical Professor of Respiratory Infection and Immunity; Lead for the Centre for Immunobiology

Centre: Immunobiology

Email: a.martineau@qmul.ac.uk
Telephone: 020 7882 7242

Profile

Adrian studied medicine with an intercalated B Med Sci in Epidemiology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, then gained a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from Liverpool University. Following junior doctor jobs in South Africa (Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Mosvold Hospital), he returned to Liverpool for postgraduate training in internal medicine before completing a PhD under the supervision of Robert Wilkinson (Imperial) and Chris Griffiths (Queen Mary University of London), investigating the immunomodulatory actions of vitamin D in tuberculosis. Following another spell in South Africa (University of Cape Town) he returned to Queen Mary to establish a programme of laboratory and clinical research into the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, acute respiratory infections and exacerbations of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Adrian was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in 2017, and was appointed Lead of the Blizard Institute’s Centre for Immunobiology in 2023.

Teaching

  • Lecturer in Advanced Immunology, Clinical Endocrinology
  • PBL tutor
  • Medical student mentor
  • SSC supervisor

Research

Research Interests:

During his time at Queen Mary, Adrian has developed and led a major programme of laboratory work, clinical trials (UK, Mongolia, South Africa, Pakistan) and meta-analyses investigating the potential for vitamin D to prevent and treat tuberculosis, acute respiratory infections and exacerbations of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In 2020 he established COVIDENCE UK, a n=20,000 population-based longitudinal study of COVID-19 in UK adults, which has yielded multiple insights into risk factors for, and long-term complications of, SARS-CoV-2 infection.

In 2021 Adrian led a team that discovered the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in circulating haematopoietic stem cells of asymptomatic TB contacts adults living in Ethiopia. The current focus of his lab relates to identification of niches for M. tuberculosis in blood and bone marrow and characterisation of host-pathogen relationships within them, with the ultimate aim of enhancing biological understanding and clinical detection of tuberculosis infection.

Adrian’s research has been supported by The Medical Research Council, Wellcome, the National Institute of Health Research, the National Institutes of Health, Asthma + Lung UK and Barts Charity.

Publications

  1. Belay M … Martineau AR. Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNA in CD34-positive peripheral blood mononuclear cells of asymptomatic tuberculosis contacts: an observational study. The Lancet Microbe. 2021;2(6):e267-e75.

  2. Ganmaa D … Martineau AR. Vitamin D Supplements for Prevention of Tuberculosis Infection and Disease. N Engl J Med. 2020;383(4):359-68.

  3. Martineau AR, Cantorna MT. Vitamin D for COVID-19: where are we now? Nat Rev Immunol. 2022;22:529-30.

  4. Vivaldi G … Martineau AR. Long-term symptom profiles after COVID-19 vs. other acute respiratory infections: an analysis of data from the COVIDENCE UK study. eClinicalMedicine 2023: 102251

  5. Jolliffe DA … Martineau AR. Vitamin D Supplements for Prevention of Covid-19 or other Acute Respiratory Infections: a Phase 3 Randomized Controlled Trial (CORONAVIT). BMJ. 2022;378:e071230.

  6. Jolliffe DA … Martineau AR. Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis of aggregate data from randomised controlled trials. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. 2021;9(5):276-92.

  7. Holt H … Martineau AR. Risk factors for developing COVID-19: a population-based longitudinal study (COVIDENCE UK). Thorax. 2022;77:900-12.

  8. Middelkoop K … Martineau AR. Vitamin D Supplementation to Prevent Tuberculosis Infection in South African Schoolchildren: Multicentre Phase 3 Double-Blind Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial (ViDiKids). Int J Infect Dis. 2023;S1201-9712(23):562-3.

Visit Adrian Martineau's QMUL publications page to view all of his research publications.

Other Links:

Supervision

Current PhD students:

  • Hayley Holt: Population-based longitudinal study of COVID-19 in UK adults.
  • Giulia Vivaldi: Long-term impacts of COVID-19 on UK adults.
  • Dr Shruthi Chandran: Detection of M. tuberculosis in blood of adults in London, UK
  • Dr Jonathan Mayito:  Detection of M. tuberculosis in blood of adults in Kampala, Uganda
  • Dr Aishwarya Venkataraman: Influence of malnutrition on host response to M. tuberculosis
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