Joseph Turner researches the immunobiology and chemotherapy of helminth neglected tropical diseases. A major goal of his research is the clinical translation of new therapeutics and diagnostics for filarial neglected tropical diseases which are prioritised for global elimination. He originally trained in Medical Microbiology at Newcastle University. After deciding to specialise in parasitology, Joseph attained an MSc in Molecular Parasitology & Vector Biology from Manchester University in 1999. He gained a PhD in Parasite Immunology from Nottingham University in 2004 in the lab of Professor Jan Bradley, with collaborative field work based at Institute Pasteur, Yaounde, Cameroon, where he established, for the first time, the immune-epidemiological association between type-2 cytokines and age-related immunity to human gastro-intestinal nematodes. From 2003-2007 Joseph was a member of Professor Mark Taylor’s research group at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) that demonstrated drug targeting of wolbachia as a curative treatment for onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis via clinical studies conducted in Cameroon, Ghana and Tanzania. In related lab studies, he defined the molecular basis for wolbachia-mediated inflammation. In 2007 Joseph moved to The Centre for Immunology and Infection at the University of York with Dr Adrian Mountford and gained a Wellcome Trust Departmental Fellowship in 2009 to investigate the host-parasite interactions of experimental schistosome transmission. Joseph was appointed Lecturer in Parasitology at LSTM within the then Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology Group in 2010 and progressed to Professor of Infection Biology in 2022. He currently leads the Department of Tropical Disease Biology.

Joseph lectures on several modules of the MSc Tropical Disease Biology as well as professional diplomas. With his lab team he regularly co-supervises MSc and MRes project students.