Rate My Professor James Brewer

Professor James M. Brewer holds the position of Chair in Basic Immunology (Immunology & Infection) and serves as Head of the Centre for Immunobiology within the School of Infection & Immunity at the University of Glasgow. He completed his PhD in 1993 at the University of Strathclyde under Professor Jim Alexander, focusing on the design of novel vaccine adjuvants. From 1993 to 1996, he worked in industry on the development and formulation of novel adjuvants. In 1997, Brewer joined the Glasgow Immunology Department with a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellowship to investigate adjuvant mechanisms, during which he collaborated at Washington University in St. Louis with Dr. David Russell, developing expertise in microscopy and bioimaging for immunological studies. He was appointed Lecturer at the University of Glasgow in 2001, promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2005, joined the Centre for Biophotonics at the University of Strathclyde as Reader in 2006, and returned to the University of Glasgow as Professor in the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation (now the School of Infection & Immunity) in 2009.

Brewer's research centers on imaging infection and immunity in vivo, utilizing advanced techniques including multiphoton microscopy, microendoscopy, whole body imaging, and high-content imaging to visualize immune system biology in real time. He collaborates closely with Professor Paul Garside to examine cellular interactions driving immune responses, with emphasis on host-parasite interactions in infectious immunity and immune dynamics in autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. His lab integrates imaging with cell-specific reporters, cell fate tracking, transcriptomics, and cell sorting, partnering with physicists, mathematicians, and chemists for non-invasive, translational approaches. Brewer has authored over 140 publications, including key works like 'Antigen depot is not required for alum adjuvanticity' (2012), 'Preclinical models of arthritis for studying immunotherapy and immune tolerance' (2021, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases), 'Nanoalum adjuvanted vaccines: small details make a big difference' (2021, Seminars in Immunology), and 'Unravelling the Role of DNA Sensing in Alum Adjuvant Activity' (2022, Discovery Immunology). With thousands of citations across 250+ papers, his contributions have advanced understanding of adjuvant activity, T cell motility, and dendritic cell function. He has secured extensive funding from the Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, and others, and directs the MSc in Immunology and Inflammatory Disease programme.