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Nima Gharahdaghi

 

  1. How did you become interested in translational gastroenterology? 

I trained as a molecular and cell biologist with a long-standing interest in how metabolism shapes immune responses during infection and inflammation in patients, not just in models. Gastroenterology drew me in because the gut sits at the centre of immunity: it is constantly exposed to microbes and environmental triggers, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can look clinically similar while being biologically very different from patient to patient. Oxford’s Translational Gastroenterology & Liver Unit is an ideal place to do genuinely translational work. The combination of expert clinical teams, high-quality endoscopy sampling, and well-curated biobanks makes it possible to connect patient biology to mechanism, and then turn those findings into practical tests that can be used consistently across centres. 

 

  1. What are you currently working on and what importance does your work hold for current patients with gastrointestinal issues? 

I work on a subgroup of patients with severe IBD where the immune system produces antibodies that block a key anti-inflammatory pathway (interleukin-10). In our work, we showed that IL-10–neutralising antibodies can be clinically important in selected patients, and that identifying this mechanism can matter for how patients are managed. 

At Oxford, my focus has been to build and validate the reliable and scalable assays to screen these antibodies, so we can move from “interesting biology” to something that can be used at pace and with consistency. So far, the platform has processed more than 9,000 samples across an international network and has been transferred beyond a single academic lab. 

For patients, the goal is simple: earlier identification of mechanisms, clearer stratification of risk, and more informed decisions- reducing the trial-and-error cycle that many patients experience. 

 

  1. What do you enjoy most about scientific research? 

I enjoy research most when it links mechanism to real-world impact. That means asking a clear question, testing it rigorously, and then doing the hard part—turning a discovery into something reproducible that other teams can trust and use. 

I also value the people side of science: training and mentoring, improving how a lab runs, and building systems that make good work easier to repeat. Translational research only works when the data are robust enough to travel, across people, sites, and time. 

  

 

  1. What’s the best part of being an Oxford University TGLU member? 

The best part is the connected ecosystem: clinicians, endoscopists, research nurses, biobank staff, and scientists working as one pipeline rather than separate worlds. That structure makes it possible to go from patient sampling to mechanistic insight to clinically useful outputs without losing momentum. 

For my work specifically, the quality and consistency of TGLU sampling and clinical phenotyping are foundational. Endoscopists and clinical teams do the difficult front-line work of collecting high-quality samples; our responsibility on the research side is to honour that contribution by producing findings and tools that are rigorous, shareable, and ultimately relevant to patient care. 

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