Rate My Professor Heather Wilson

Professor Heather Wilson serves as Chair in Immunology in the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Aberdeen, where she is also Theme Lead for Microbiology and Immunity at the Institute of Medical Sciences and Co-lead for the Immunity and Infection research programme. She earned a first-class honours BSc in Biochemistry in 1987 and a PhD in Biochemistry in 1990 from the University of Aberdeen, supported by a Carnegie prize scholarship for research on lipid mediators driving coronary heart disease. Her early postdoctoral work, funded by the Medical Research Council, Kidney Research UK, and British Heart Foundation, investigated factors mediating the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and the progression of glomerulonephritis to end-stage renal disease. This included studies on macrophage inflammatory mediators controlling glomerular extracellular matrix turnover, renal scarring, and early inflammatory stages of nephritis in experimental models. Appointed Lecturer in 2008, she advanced to Senior Lecturer in 2013 and received her personal Chair in 2019.

Professor Wilson's research focuses on signalling pathways regulating macrophage activation and function in inflammatory diseases such as nephritis, atherosclerosis, and wound healing, alongside macrophage roles in infection control, particularly against Candida albicans. Her investigations cover macrophage polarization to pro- or anti-inflammatory phenotypes, regulation of tissue injury and repair, physiological inhibitors to manipulate macrophage function, biomarkers of macrophage activity in diseases like glomerulonephritis, atherosclerosis, wound healing, and cancer, and the influence of biophysical cues including small electric fields and shockwave therapy on macrophage properties. She also examines how clinical drugs alter immune cell function and infection susceptibility, such as PTP1B inhibition. Key publications include 'Characterising interleukin-27 (IL-27) responses in human blood derived macrophage cells' (2026), 'PTP1B deficiency in myeloid cells increases susceptibility to Candida albicans systemic infection by modulating antifungal immunity' (2025), 'Myeloid PTP1B deficiency protects against atherosclerosis by improving cholesterol homeostasis through an AMPK-dependent mechanism' (2023), 'Modulation of macrophages by biophysical cues in health and beyond' (2023), and 'Recent Developments in the Role of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) as a Regulator of Immune Cell Signalling in Health and Disease' (2024). She chairs the Foresterhill Biological Safety Committee, coordinates courses on inflammation and human disease across BSc, MSc, and MBChB programmes, serves on editorial boards for Frontiers in Immunology and World Journal of Immunology, and is a member of the Renal Association, British Society of Immunology, and Biochemical Society.