Elizabeth Whittaker

Dr Liz Whittaker is Senior Clinical Lecturer in paediatric infectious diseases and immunology. She divides her time between Imperial College London and the Department of Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, St. Marys Hospital, London where she is a Consultant.

Dr Whittaker is the co-lead for HCID (high consequence infectious diseases) at St Marys. She is on the RCPCH COVID expert advisory group and the NHSE National Paediatric COVID Treatment Advice lead . Together with colleagues in paediatric infectious diseases at Imperial College and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, as well as other paediatric centres in the UK, she described a novel inflammatory syndrome in children known as PIMS (paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome) or MIS-C (Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children). She is a co-investigator on the NIH funded PREVAIL study exploring diagnostic and prognostic markers for COVID related conditions.

She is the co-lead for the Pan London Post-COVID service for Children and Young People (CYP) and a co-investigator on the NIHR funded CLoCK study looking at prevalence of Long COVID in CYP. She is also a co-investigator on other studies exploring pathogenesis and treatment of post COVID syndromes in CYP.

Her main research interests are the ontogeny of infant immune responses to a variety of pathogens. Her PhD data suggest that children under a year of age have an immaturity of their non-specific T cells or innate immune responses in conjunction with increased numbers of regulatory T cells. She expanded on this theme while an NIHR funded ACL and now by creating generic and specific assays that will examine the maturation of immune responses in children of different ages, from premature infants of different gestation to older children with 'mature' immune systems. The aim of this research is to develop biomarkers of infection for diagnostic purposes in neonates and to understand differences in immature immune responses that may lead to protection for this vulnerable group, either through vaccinations or immunomodulatory interventions in pregnancy and/or the early neonatal period. Understanding these differences is essential for the development of new adjuvants which will increase the efficacy of neonatal vaccinations to such pathogens as CMV, Group B streptococcus & RSV.