Katherine Jane Doores is a British biochemist who is a senior lecturer in the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences at King's College London. During the COVID-19 pandemic Doores studied the levels of antibodies in patients who had suffered from COVID-19.[1]
When Doores was a graduate student at Oxford, she studied glycoimmunology in the laboratory of professor Davis.[3] Glycoimmunology is an emerging research field which looks at how immune response is moderated by carbohydrates (glycans). At the Scripps Research Institute as part of her post doctoral work, she worked on the glycobiology on HIV and broadly-neutralizing antibodies.[4] At Scripps, Doores worked alongside Dennis Burton, where she studied the "flower-like" envelope protein on HIV. These envelope protein penetrates host cells and create antibody-resistant glycans.[5] By investigating this envelope protein, Doores looked to identify sites which are involved with viral function. By neutralising sites such as these (the high-mannose patch), Doores hoped to protect against HIV infection.[5][6]
From 2013 to 2017, Doores was a lecturer in the Department of Infectious Diseases at King's College London. Doores was awarded a Medical Research Council fellowship to establish her own laboratory at King's College. She was made a European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Young Investigator in 2017.[7] In 2017, Doores became a senior lecturer in the Department of Infectious Diseases at King's College.[citation needed]
Many disease-causing pathogens are coated in carbohydrates. Moores investigates the behaviour of these carbohydrates in host–pathogen interactions. She hopes that by understanding the role of these carbohydrates it will be possible to develop novel therapeutic strategies and vaccinations. Alongside developing new medical therapies, Moores is interested in how the body responds to carbohydrate antigens in the form of antibody recognition.[8] Her work has primarily focussed on the carbohydrate antigens on HIV-1.[8] The envelope glycoprotein GP120 of HIV-1 is covered in N-linked-glycans. These glycans are the target of BNabs (broadly neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies), and Moores is studying how these antibodies evolve in vivo.[8] This understanding will allow the develop of new vaccines that encourage the generation of antibodies that can protect against pathogenic bacteria.[8]
During the COVID-19 pandemic Doores studied the levels of antibodies in patients who had suffered from COVID-19 in Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.[9][10] Her research showed that while 60% of COVID-19 patients elicited a strong antibody response, only 17% of them retained this potency three months later.[1][11][12] In some cases, patients entirely lost their antibody response.[1] These results implied that immunity to COVID-19 might be short lived, and that people may become reinfected during a second wave of infection.[1]
