Is the infant response to BCG immunisation influenced by maternal exposure to mycobacteria? (360G-Wellcome-085844_Z_08_Z)

The research will address the hypothesis that the infant immune response to BCG immunisation is influenced by maternal exposure to mycobacteria. The research will use stored samples from an on-going, Wellcome Trust-funded, immuno-epidemiological study among 2500 pregnant women and their offspring, in Entebbe, Uganda. Within this "host project", demographic and clinical data have been collected from mothers and infants; infants have been immunised with BCG at birth; cells, serum and plasma have been stored, as well as supernatants from whole blood assays for the immune response to mycobacterial antigens. The candidate will use this archived material to address the hypothesis as follows: 1\. he will investigate a negative association between maternal BCG scar and the neonatal immune response to BCG immunisation (suggested by his own preliminary data), exploring potential confounding or explanatory factors. 2\. he will determine whether maternal immune responses to mycobacteria are related to responses in cord blood and in infancy by examining the relationship between maternal, cord and infant cytokine levels in stored whole blood assay supernatants, and anti-mycobacterial antibody levels in stored serum samples. 3\. he will investigate the relationship between maternal infection with M. tuberculosis and cord blood and infant immune responses to BCG.