Julia Makinde

Dr. Julia Makinde is an Honorary Lecturer in the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London's Faculty of Medicine. She is based at the IAVI Human Immunology Laboratory and works on the ADVANCE programme, funded by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Her research focuses on understanding natural and vaccine-induced immune responses to HIV, aiming to develop new interventions. She is also a Senior Manager in Clinical Immunology, leading projects on immune mediators in the female genital tract and cyclical immunological changes relevant to HIV prevention strategies.

Her academic affiliations include the Vaccine Research Network and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Key research themes include CD8 T-cell mediated viral inhibition, IL-21 receptor expression in HIV disease, and mucosal immunity dynamics across the menstrual cycle. She has contributed to systematic reviews and meta-analyses of cervicovaginal immunology and developed protocols for T-cell line enrichment and assay controls in HIV research.

Dr. Makinde's work spans clinical and translational research, with a focus on bridging immunological discoveries to practical applications in vaccine development and public health. Her recent studies emphasize cross-clade T-cell responses and biomarkers predicting HIV control, alongside investigations of drug transporter modulation for microbicide optimization.