Gillian Griffiths

{{Infobox scientist

| honorific_prefix = Professor

| name = Gillian Griffiths

| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS|FMedSci}}

| birth_name = Gillian Margaret Griffiths

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| fields = {{Plainlist|

Immunology
cell biology }}

| workplaces = {{Plainlist|

| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|

University College London (BSc)
University of Cambridge (PhD)}}

| thesis_title = Molecular analysis of the immune response

| thesis_url = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.351293

| thesis_year = 1983

| doctoral_advisor = César Milstein

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FMedSci
FRS (2013)
Buchanan Medal (2019)}}

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| website = {{URL|med.cam.ac.uk/griffiths}}

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}}

Gillian Margaret Griffiths is a British cell biologist and immunologist. Griffiths was one of the first to show that immune cells have specialised mechanisms of secretion, and identified proteins and mechanisms that control cytotoxic T-lymphocyte secretion. {{cite web|title=Professor Gillian Griffiths FMedSci FRS|url=http://royalsociety.org/people/gillian-griffiths/|publisher=The Royal Society|accessdate=11 October 2013|archive-date=20 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620032823/https://royalsociety.org/people/gillian-griffiths/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 21711522

| year = 2011

| last1 = Stinchcombe

| first1 = J. C.

| title = Centriole polarisation to the immunological synapse directs secretion from cytolytic cells of both the innate and adaptive immune systems

| journal = BMC Biology

| volume = 9

| pages = 45

| last2 = Salio

| first2 = M

| last3 = Cerundolo

| first3 = V

| last4 = Pende

| first4 = D

| last5 = Arico

| first5 = M

| last6 = Griffiths

| first6 = G. M.

| doi = 10.1186/1741-7007-9-45

| pmc = 3149597

| doi-access = free

}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 21339332

| year = 2011

| last1 = Tsun

| first1 = A

| title = Centrosome docking at the immunological synapse is controlled by Lck signaling

| journal = The Journal of Cell Biology

| volume = 192

| issue = 4

| pages = 663–74

| last2 = Qureshi

| first2 = I

| last3 = Stinchcombe

| first3 = J. C.

| last4 = Jenkins

| first4 = M. R.

| last5 = de la Roche

| first5 = M

| last6 = Kleczkowska

| first6 = J

| last7 = Zamoyska

| first7 = R

| last8 = Griffiths

| first8 = G. M.

| doi = 10.1083/jcb.201008140

| pmc = 3044125

}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1083/jcb.201002027| title = The immunological synapse: A focal point for endocytosis and exocytosis| journal = The Journal of Cell Biology| volume = 189| issue = 3| pages = 399–406| year = 2010| last1 = Griffiths | first1 = G. M.| last2 = Tsun | first2 = A.| last3 = Stinchcombe | first3 = J. C.| pmc = 2867296 | pmid=20439993}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 20798128

| year = 2010

| last1 = Cetica

| first1 = V

| title = STXBP2 mutations in children with familial haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis type 5

| journal = Journal of Medical Genetics

| volume = 47

| issue = 9

| pages = 595–600

| last2 = Santoro

| first2 = A

| last3 = Gilmour

| first3 = K. C.

| last4 = Sieni

| first4 = E

| last5 = Beutel

| first5 = K

| last6 = Pende

| first6 = D

| last7 = Marcenaro

| first7 = S

| last8 = Koch

| first8 = F

| last9 = Grieve

| first9 = S

| last10 = Wheeler

| first10 = R

| last11 = Zhao

| first11 = F

| last12 = Zur Stadt

| first12 = U

| last13 = Griffiths

| first13 = G. M.

| last14 = Aricò

| first14 = M

| doi = 10.1136/jmg.2009.075341

| pmc = 4115259

}}{{Scopus|id=7202289533}}

Current research

Griffiths is Professor of Cell Biology and Immunology at the University of Cambridge, running a research laboratory at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research. She was Director of CIMR from 2013 until 2017.

In 2024, she was appointed as the new Chair of the Department of Cell Biology at Yale School of Medicine, effective 1st April 2025.{{cite news |title=Gillian Griffiths Named Chair of the Department of Cell Biology |url=https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/gillian-griffiths-named-chair-of-the-department-of-cell-biology/ |access-date=3 January 2025 |date=16 October 2024}} Her work leverages advanced microscopy techniques to image cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) as they kill cancerous target cells, as well as functional assays and biochemical techniques.{{cite web |title=Griffiths Lab Website |url=https://www.griffiths-lab.com/}}

Recently, work from her lab has uncovered a link between mitochondrial protein translation and CTL cytotoxicity,{{cite journal |author1=Miriam Lisci |author2=Philippa R. Barton |author3=Lyra O. Randzavola |author4=Claire Y. Ma |author5=Julia M. Marchingo |author6=Doreen A. Cantrell |author7=Vincent Paupe |author8=Julien Prudent |author9=Jane C. Stinchcombe |author10=Gillian M. Griffiths |title=Mitochondrial translation is required for sustained killing by cytotoxic T cells |journal=Science |date=15 October 2021 |volume=374 |issue=6565 |pages=eabe9977 |doi=10.1126/science.abe9977 |pmid=34648346 |url=https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe9977}} termination of T cell receptor signalling at the immune synapse via ectocytosis (outward membrane budding),{{cite journal |author1=Jane C. Stinchcombe |author2=Yukako Asano |author3=Christopher J. G. Kaufman |author4=Kristin Böhlig |author5=Christopher J. Peddie |author6=Lucy M Collinson |author-link6=Lucy Collinson |author7=André Nadler |author8=Gillian M. Griffiths |date=25 May 2023 |title=Ectocytosis renders T cell receptor signaling self-limiting at the immune synapse |url=https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abp8933 |journal=Science |volume=380 |issue=6647 |pages=818–823 |bibcode=2023Sci...380..818S |doi=10.1126/science.abp8933 |pmc=7614748 |pmid=37228189}} and a link between transcription of new RNAs and the ability of CTLs to infiltrate target cell clumps.{{cite journal |author1=Arianne C. Richard |author2=Claire Y. Ma |author3=John C. Marioni |author4=Gillian M. Griffiths |title=Cytotoxic T lymphocytes require transcription for infiltration but not target cell lysis |journal=EMBO Reports |date=20 October 2023 |volume=24 |issue=11 |page=e57653 |doi=10.15252/embr.202357653 |pmid=37860838 |pmc=10626425 |url=https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.202357653}}

Education

She began her scientific career at University College London by studying immunology, undertaking her PhD at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge supervised by César Milstein.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1083/jcb.2001pi| title = Gillian Griffiths: How T cells get on target| journal = The Journal of Cell Biology| volume = 200| pages = 4–5| year = 2013| last1 = Sedwick | first1 = C.| issue = 1| pmid=23295346| pmc=3542799}}

Awards and honours

Griffiths' research is largely funded by the Wellcome Trust, having been awarded Principle Research Fellowships in 2014 and 2019, and a Discovery Award in 2024.{{cite web |url=https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/people-and-projects/grants-awarded/molecular-mechanisms-controlling-polarised-secretion |title=Molecular mechanisms controlling polarised secretion at the immunological synapse }}{{cite web |url=https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/people-and-projects/grants-awarded/molecular-mechanisms-controlling-cytotoxic-t |title=Molecular mechanisms controlling cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) killing: From genes to secretion }}{{cite web |url=https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/people-and-projects/grants-awarded/dynamic-changes-immune-synapse-controlling-ctl |title=Dynamic changes at the immune synapse controlling CTL function - Grants Awarded }} She is a Fellow at King's College, Cambridge and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2013. Her nomination for the Royal Society reads {{centred pull quote|Gillian Griffiths has made key contributions to the fields of both cell biology and immunology, introducing important new concepts into both fields. Gillian Griffiths was one of the first to show that immune cells use specialised mechanisms of secretion, identifying the proteins and mechanisms controlling secretion from cytotoxic T lymphocytes via high resolution live cell microscopy, biochemical approaches, and by studying human genetic diseases. Her work has identified a new and unexpected role for the centrosome in exocytosis, and revealed that centrosome docking at the plasma membrane provides a focal point for exocytosis. Her work is both elegant and insightful.}}

2019: Awarded the Buchanan Medal of the Royal Society.{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/awards/buchanan-medal/|title=Buchanan Medallist 2019|publisher=Royal Society|accessdate= 5 October 2019}}