Nima Gharahdaghi

Nima Gharahdaghi is a Research Fellow in immunology at the University of Oxford, based within the Centre for Human Genetics (CHG). He completed his PhD and first postdoctoral training at the University of Nottingham, where his research focused on molecular and metabolic regulators of health and disease, with particular emphasis on mechanisms governing lifespan and healthspan. His work integrated model organisms (Caenorhabditis elegans) with clinical and translational studies, combining wet-lab experimentation, bedside human studies, and mass-spectrometry-based multi-omics analyses. He contributed to intervention-based projects leveraging large clinical datasets to improve healthspan in both young and older adults, including octogenarians with multiple comorbidities such as urological cancer.

At Oxford, his research centres on cytokine biology in infectious and inflammatory diseases, with a specific focus on IL-10, IL-18, and IL-6 receptor signalling via GP130. He investigates the cellular and molecular regulation of cytokine production and downstream signalling using primary human immune cells, serological approaches, and cellular models of monogenic inflammatory diseases characterised by excessive pro-inflammatory cytokine activity. His work has examined how GP130 mutations alter IL-6 receptor signalling and disease phenotype, as well as the contribution of anti-IL-10 autoantibodies to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The overarching aim of his research is to define mechanistic drivers of organ-specific inflammation, stratify patients for cytokine-targeted therapies, and explore metabolic interventions to correct inflammation-associated dysfunction.

In addition to his research activities, Nima lectures on the MSc in Integrated Immunology programme at the University of Oxford and holds an honorary research contract with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, supporting close integration of bench and clinical research. He is an active member of NASA GeneLab Analysis Working Groups (Animal and Multi-omics) and serves on editorial boards for journals including The Journal of Physiology and Frontiers in Immunology. Outside the laboratory, he has been involved in football coaching as a head coach with the University of Oxford team and Oxford United and Oxford City clubs.