professor kay-tee khaw

17th March 6.45pm,

Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG.

Professor Jon Cohen, Dean at BSMS, was at the Royal Society on Thursday 18 March to give the first ever University of Sussex London Lecture. The talk centred on the troublesome streptococcus bacteria responsible for both scarlet fever and the infamous flesh-eating bug.

The aim of the event, attended by 150 specially invited guests and alumni, was to take the University of Sussex to an audience outside of Brighton.

The London-based event is expected to become an annual fixture.

Lecture subject:

The leopard changes its spots: from childbed fever to flesh eating bacteria - Professor Jonathan Cohen

Research in our laboratory has been focused on trying to understand how the Streptococcus causes such a severe infection. We have been interested in certain toxins that the bacteria produce. These toxins, called superantigens, are capable of massive stimulation of the immune response:this inappropriate response is at the heart of the cause of streptococcal shock. Understanding how this happens will help us find new ways to treat it. But what is really intriguing is why so few people get this disease.

The Streptococcus is a common bacterium that many of us carry in our throat. Why is it that only some people get this terrible infection? Some of our recent results may provide part of the answer to this question