Rate My Professor Timothy Tree

Professor Timothy Tree is Professor of Immune Regulation and Immunotherapy in the Peter Gorer Department of Immunobiology, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, Medicine at King’s College London. He leads the Tree Group based at Guy’s Hospital, consisting of clinicians, postdoctoral research scientists, research assistants, and PhD students focused on translational medicine projects. These efforts aim to elucidate the basic biology of autoimmune and inflammatory disorders such as type 1 diabetes and motor neurone disease, and to develop novel immunotherapies. Funded by medical research charities, government councils, and pharmaceutical companies, his work includes participation in large national and international clinical trials involving longitudinal immune monitoring to assess disease progression and therapy responses. Tree serves as Co-Lead (Immunobiology) of the Programme of Infection and Immunity and teaches on undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional courses in biomedical sciences and medicine. He was educated at Imperial College London, where he read Biochemistry before completing a doctorate in Immunology.

Tree specializes in human T cell immunology, with particular expertise in the function of regulatory T cells in human health, disease, and transplantation. His research explores autoreactive T cells and develops strategies to strengthen immune regulation, notably in type 1 diabetes and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Current projects include identifying cerebrospinal fluid and blood immune biomarkers for ALS progression and IL-2 therapy response, cooperative harmonization of islet-specific antigen-induced memory T cell assays, and precision profiling of proinsulin-specific CD4 T cells in relation to pathogenic autoimmunity and viral infection. He received the RD Lawrence Fellowship from Diabetes UK in 2001. His scholarly impact is evidenced by over 7,220 citations. Key publications include 'Defective suppressor function in CD4+CD25+ T-cells from patients with type 1 diabetes' (Diabetes, 2005; 1,220 citations), 'Guidelines for the use of flow cytometry and cell sorting in immunological studies' (European Journal of Immunology, 2019; 2,386 citations), 'Regulatory T cell dysfunction in type 1 diabetes: what’s broken and how can we fix it?' (Diabetologia, 2017; 274 citations), 'Safety and immunogenicity of one versus two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 for patients with cancer' (The Lancet Oncology, 2021; 678 citations), and 'Efficacy and safety of low-dose IL-2 as an add-on therapy to riluzole (MIROCALS)' (The Lancet, 2025).