Rate My Professor Liz Ledgerwood

Professor Elizabeth Ledgerwood is a Professor and Deputy Head of Department in the Department of Biochemistry within the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Otago. She earned her BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and PhD from the University of Otago, completed postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge, and joined the University of Otago in 2000. She advanced through academic ranks and was promoted to Professor effective 1 February 2026. In addition, she serves as Associate Dean (Academic) for the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and is an affiliated member of the Centre for Redox Biology and Medicine. She leads the Ledgerwood Group, which includes research fellows and assistants focused on her research themes.

Ledgerwood's research centers on redox biology, examining how oxidants and antioxidants regulate cell functions, the role of cytochrome c in apoptosis, and redox regulation of mammalian cell signal transduction. Her group was among the first to show how antioxidant proteins convert oxidant signals into changes in human cell function and has identified mutations in redox proteins that cause inherited thrombocytopenia. Recent work includes collaboration with the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study to investigate oxidative and mitochondrial stress biomarkers associated with accelerated aging at midlife. In 2023, she received Marsden Fund support to study peroxiredoxin decamer formation and function in living cells using nanobodies and fluorescence fluctuation microscopy, with collaborators including Associate Professor Peter Mace, Professor Mark Hampton, and Associate Professor Elizabeth Hinde. Key publications include "CALR type 1-like mutations increase endoplasmic reticulum free Ca²⁺ and induce ERK1/2 activation independent of thrombopoietin receptor activation" (Faiz et al., 2025, Cell Biology International); "Biomarkers of oxidative and mitochondrial stress are associated with accelerated pace of aging at midlife in a birth cohort" (King-Hudson et al., 2025, Journals of Gerontology Series A); "Megakaryocyte maturation involves activation of the adaptive unfolded protein response" (Faiz et al., 2024, Genes to Cells); "Inherited thrombocytopenia associated with a variant in the FLI1 binding site in the 5' UTR of ANKRD26" (Dunstan-Harrison et al., 2024, Clinical Genetics); and "Altered conformational dynamics contribute to species-specific effects of cytochrome c mutations on caspase activation" (Chin et al., 2024). Her 52 publications have accumulated 3,605 citations. She teaches BIOC463 Contemporary Technologies in Biochemistry, presents seminars such as "From Peroxiredoxins to People: Redox signalling and oxidative stress across the life course," and delivers an Inaugural Professorial Lecture.