Dr Vadim Taraban

Biography

As the course leader of the BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science programme, Vadim has extensive experience in conducting biomedical research and teaching undergraduate students both in Russia and the United Kingdom. 

Having graduated as a medical doctor, he initially spent two years specialising in clinical immunology, which included intercalated six-month periods of hospital practice in haematology and rheumatology and extensive laboratory training in molecular and cellular biology and immunology. Soon after that, he joined a research laboratory with a strong interest in stem cells and immunosuppression, to study the newly emerged group of cells called myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC). Subsequently, his PhD project involved assessing the mechanisms which underlie a surprising ability of myeloid haematopoietic precursors both to suppress the response of T cells and to inhibit tumour growth.

Since then, Vadim has extended his interest in tumour immunology and, following his move to University of Southampton in 2000, focused on the regulation of T cell functions through co-stimulatory receptors belonging to the TNFR superfamily. He studied a number of signalling pathways mediated by the death receptor 3 (DR3 or TNFRSF25), OX40 (CD134), 4-1BB (CD137) and CD27, with particular emphasis on their probing as potential targets for therapeutic interventions in cancer, inflammation and autoimmunity. As a visiting research fellow at Barts Cancer Institute, he has also been studying the role of human polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase/PNPT1) in regulation of lymphocyte activation and pathogenesis of the chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

Following a spell at London South Bank University as a senior lecturer in human biology and a course director in biosciences, Vadim has joined Solent University to lead on the new BSc (Hons) programme and to continue developing his research and teaching interests in biomedical sciences.