Journal of Immunology and Infectious Diseases

Prof.Janet Liversidge graduated in Zoology from Aberdeen University in 1971 and then took up a post at the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland Marine Laboratory to train as a microbiologist. Specializing in infectious diseases affecting farmed and wild salmonids, she ran the Fish Virology diagnostic service until 1978. Then, to further her interest in the emerging discipline of immunology, she joined the Salmonid Immunology Team that was formed to develop vaccines for use in the rapidly developing aquaculture industry. She then returned to Aberdeen University in 1985 to complete formal postgraduate training as an Immunologist in the Departments of Pathology and Ophthalmology. Research Fellowships followed, including a Wellcome University Award Lectureship in 1993. Awarded a Personal Chair in Immunology in 2006, she had established a successful research team specializing in the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying mononuclear cell pathogenesis in autoimmune disease and was awarded a DSc in 2008.

Prof. Janet Liversidge's research interests has been focused in two main areas: 

(i) Blood retina barrier (BRB) function and

(ii) Regulatory mechanisms controlling mononuclear myeloid cell activity in inflammation.

Recent results from both lines of research indicate that circulating monocytes are central to breakdown of the BRB and development of inflammation and that both macrophage and dendritic cell activity can be modulated through receptors such as CD200R to reduce retinal damage and restore immunological non-responsiveness. More recently we have developed phos-flow specific assays for the analysis of activated signalling pathways in leukocytes for identification of biomarkers linked to disease and potential response to different theraputic drugs.