Research Interests

Professor Gordon Dougan’s research focuses on the genetic analysis of host/pathogen interactions during infection, particularly those involving enteric bacteria. He has worked extensively in both academia and industry, making important contributions in the field of vaccinology where he has worked to improve vaccine delivery to poorly resourced regions.

Gordon Dougan is an expert in vaccinology/pathogenic mechanisms, specialising on the immunology of mucosal vaccines and molecular basis of infection. His group exploit genomic approaches to study host-pathogen interactions and the analysis of microbial populations.

Gordon has extensive teaching experience at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. He has served on several editorial boards and regularly reviews manuscripts for high-impact journals. He is a consultant for industry and has founded biotechnology companies, including the single-chain antibody company VHSquared.

Gordon is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Biology Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and is an EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization) member. He established the Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection (including a raising funding for a building) at Imperial College London and was the Board of Management representative for Pathogen Research for ten years (2004-2014) at the Sanger Institute where he is currently a Senior Group Leader.

Gordon worked for more than ten years for the multi-national pharmaceutical company, The Wellcome Foundation, which is now part of GSK. During this period he became Head of Molecular Biology, managing teams working on vaccines, humanised antibodies and scale-up systems. He contributed to the discovery of pertactin as a key protective antigen for acellular whooping cough vaccines and is now an advisor for many companies, serving as a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) or Board member. Gordon was Chair of the SAB for Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics for more than ten years and helped found the Novartis Vaccine Global Health Institute (NVGH).

He is currently on the board of The Hilleman Laboratories, a joint enterprise between Merck and The Wellcome Trust and has founded spin-out companies and served as a Trustee at the International Vaccine Institute in Korea. Gordon is also currently a SAB member for ICDDR-B (International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh) and has served as a member of several WHO (World Health Organization) Committees.

Key Publications

Wong V, Baker S… Dougan G; analysis of the dominant multidrug-resistant H58 clade of Salmonella Typhi identifies inter- and intracontinental transmission events. Nature Genetics 2015. doi: 10.1038/ng.3281

von Mentzer A, Connor TR … Dougan G; Identification of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) clades with long-term global distribution. Nature Genetics 2014. DOI: 10.1038/ng.3145

Klemm E … Dougan G … Kingsley RA; Emergence of host-adapted Salmonella enteritidis through rapid evoluton in an immunocompromised host. Nature Microbiology 2016. DOI: 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2015.23

Forbester JL, Lees EA … Dougan G. Interleukin-22 promotes phagolysosomal fusion to induce protection against Salmonella enterica Typhimurium in human epithelial cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2018. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1811866115