Davies, Donna - University of Southampton

个人简介

Professor Donna Davies (nee Harrison) was awarded a Personal Chair in Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology in 2004. She graduated with a first class degree in Biochemistry from the University of Wales and completed her PhD in microbial biochemistry in 1979. She started her post-doctoral studies at the University of Oxford investigating the regulation of insulin secretion and continued this work following the award of a Lawrence Fellowship from the British Diabetic Association. She moved to the CRC Wessex Medical Oncology Unit at the University of Southampton in 1985, before she joined the Respiratory Group through the award of a University of Southampton Senior Research Fellowship and then a Readership. Professor Davies leads a multidisciplinary group that studies mechanisms of respiratory diseases, especially in areas of unmet medical need such as severe, corticosteroid refractory asthma and virus-induced exacerbations of asthma and COPD. She has pioneered the use of in vitro models allowing the use of methodologies that could not be used ethically in vivo. Notable discoveries from her work include demonstration of defective epithelial barrier function in asthma and identification of a lesion in innate immune response of asthmatic epithelial cells that may explain why the common cold virus causes exacerbations of asthma. This has led to a patent for the use of inhaled interferon-beta (IFN-β) for treatment of virus-induced exacerbations of asthma and COPD. This novel therapeutic is currently in Phase II clinical trials having been developed by ‘Synairgen’, a University of Southampton spin-out company that she co-founded with Stephen Holgate and Ratko Djukanovic in 2003. The group works closely with respiratory physicians and colleagues within the centre, with other academic centres and industry in the UK, Europe and the USA. Current research projects in her laboratory are supported by the MRC, NC3Rs, EPSRC, TSB, Asthma UK and the Roger Brooke Charitable Trust.

研究领域

Professor Davies’ research is focused on chronic lung diseases such as asthma, COPD and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis which are a major burden on the healthcare system and represent unmet needs. Her main interests are on the structural cells in the lungs, particularly epithelial cells that form the barrier to the external environment and fibroblasts that are in close communication with the epithelium and together control tissue homeostasis. In chronic lung diseases, disruption of these homeostatic mechanisms affects the local tissue microenvironment and promotes inflammation and tissue remodelling. Her ultimate goal is to use information about disease mechanisms towards development of novel treatments.

近期论文

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Mast cells are permissive for rhinovirus replication: potential implications for asthma exacerbations - Akoto, Charlene, Davies, Donna E. and Swindle, Emily J. Published:2016Publication:Clinical & Experimental AllergyPage Range:1-31doi:10.1111/cea.12879PMID:28008678 Cellular crosstalk between airway epithelial and endothelial cells regulates barrier functions during exposure to double-stranded RNA - Blume, Cornelia, Reale, Riccardo, Held, Marie, Loxham, Matthew, Millar, Tim, Collins, Jane, Swindle, Emily, Morgan, Hywel and Davies, Donna Published:2016Publication:Immunity, Inflammation and DiseasePage Range:1-34 Modulation of human airway barrier functions during Burkholderia thailandensis and Francisella tularensis infection - Blume, Cornelia, David, Jonathan, Bell, Rachel E., Laver, Jay R., Read, Robert C., Clark, Graeme C., Davies, Donna E. and Swindle, Emily Published:2016Publication:PathogensVolume:5, (53)Page Range:1-14doi:10.3390/pathogens5030053 Soluble ADAM33 initiates airway remodeling to promote susceptibility for allergic asthma in early life - Davies, Elizabeth R., Kelly, Joanne F., Howarth, Peter H., Wilson, David, Holgate, Stephen, Davies, Donna E., Whitsett, Jeffrey A. and Haitchi, Hans Michael Published:2016Publication:Journal of Clinical Investigation InsightVolume:1, (11)Page Range:1-16doi:10.1172/jci.insight.87632