Immunology: Innate Immune System

Our immune system relies on an innate and an adaptive arm that communicate and collaborate to provide us with an optimal response against pathogens. This course focuses on our innate immunity which provides us our first, fast and inherited defence against infections. In this course, you will take a closer look at the mechanisms and cellular components involved in this swift response that occurs within minutes of exposure to a threat. Throughout the course, and guided by our active researchers, you will have opportunities to recognise its key protective mechanisms and to explain their importance for our overall health. You will learn about the mechanisms it uses to inform our adaptive immune system of the presence of a threat, and understand how some environmental factors, such as our own internal microbiome, influences it. Finally, you will have opportunities to reflect on current related issues and controversies in this fascinating field of research.