Project team

TRIUMPH-NK brings immunologists, clinicians, tissue-model specialists and computational scientists together at Southampton to advance NK-cell therapy research from bench to respiratory disease context.

Project leadership

The principal investigator anchors the project strategy and connects the scientific programme across the wider Southampton team.

Salim Khakoo

Principal Investigator

Leads TRIUMPH-NK's scientific strategy, bringing deep expertise in natural killer cell biology and translational immunology.

Southampton

NK cell biologyTranslational immunologyProject leadership

Profile LinkedIn

Co-investigators

Clinical, immunology and computational leadership connect the programme to respiratory disease, immune mechanisms and data integration.

Rami Salib

Co-Investigator

Connects the programme to ENT surgery, rhinology and clinical pathways for respiratory sampling and translational studies.

Southampton / UHS

ENT surgeryRhinologyClinical translation

Profile

Aiman Alzetani

Co-Investigator

Brings thoracic surgery expertise and access to specialist clinical insight for lung-focused translational research.

Southampton / UHS

Thoracic surgeryClinical samplesLung disease

Profile LinkedIn

Karl Staples

Co-Investigator

Anchors the project in respiratory immunology and pharmacology, linking immune mechanisms to lung-relevant models.

Southampton / UHS

Respiratory immunologyPharmacologyMechanistic biology

Profile LinkedIn

Andres Vallejo

Co-Investigator

Leads computational analysis and bioinformatics integration across immune profiling and translational datasets.

Southampton

BioinformaticsSingle-cell analysisData integration

Profile LinkedIn

Scientific delivery

The experimental team develops respiratory tissue-model and pulmonary immunology work that supports the TRIUMPH-NK programme.

Mirella Spalluto

Senior Scientist

Develops and applies respiratory tissue model expertise to test NK-cell biology in disease-relevant systems.

Southampton

Tissue modelsRespiratory biologyExperimental systems

Profile LinkedIn

Jodie Ackland

Researcher

Supports pulmonary immunology research delivery, connecting experimental work with the programme's respiratory focus.

Southampton

Pulmonary immunologyExperimental deliveryRespiratory research

Profile LinkedIn

Disciplines in one programme

The team combines clinical access, immune biology, tissue systems and computational analysis so each workstream can be interpreted in the context of respiratory disease and translational feasibility.

Clinical partners

ENT and thoracic surgery expertise connect the programme to patient-facing respiratory research.

Immune biology

NK-cell and respiratory immunology expertise shape the project questions and experimental interpretation.

Models and data

Tissue-model and bioinformatics capability links experimental systems to integrated immune-state analysis.

Connect with the project

Use the contact page for public enquiries, collaboration conversations, or questions about TRIUMPH-NK background material.

Contact the team