Alex Cocker

Dr. Alex Cocker is a Researcher in the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London, part of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. He specializes in immunology, focusing on immune cell function in chronic infections, pregnancy, and HIV pathogenesis. Cocker holds a PhD in Immunology from Imperial College London (2015–2019) and has held postdoctoral positions at Stanford University (2020–2023) and Imperial College London (2019–2020). His research explores Natural Killer cell dynamics, placental immunology, and immune responses in chronic infections. He leads projects in the Davis Lab, investigating immune cell nanostructures and their functional implications. Cocker has received grants including the Chelsea and Westminster JRC Studentship and contributes to collaborative studies on infectious diseases and reproductive immunology.

Education:

• BSc in Biology, University of Leeds (2012)
• PhD in Immunology, Imperial College London (2015–2019)

Research Interests: His work centers on immune cell subsets (e.g., NK cells, T-cells) in pregnancy and chronic infections. Key areas include:

• Impact of pregnancy on HIV-specific immune responses
• Role of glycosylation in placental biology
• Functional analysis of CD56-negative NK cells in HIV and chronic infections
• γδ T-cell regulation of natural killer cell activity

Grants & Awards:

• Chelsea and Westminster JRC Studentship (PhD funding)

Professional Roles: Current positions include Research Associate in the Davis Lab and Honorary Research Associate at Imperial College’s Department of Metabolism. He has collaborated with the Parham Lab at Stanford, advancing studies on chronic infection and immune cell education.

Labs & Teams: Active in the Davis Lab (Imperial) focusing on immune nanostructure-function links and previously in the Parham Lab (Stanford) studying infectious disease immunology.