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The Institute of Medical Sciences

Professor David J. Blackbourn

Professor David J. Blackbourn
Professor David J. Blackbourn
Professor David J. Blackbourn

Professor of Virology, Director of Institute of Medical Sciences

Accepting PhDs

About
Office Address
Institute of Medical Sciences
Foresterhill Campus
Ashgrove Road West
AB25 2ZD

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School/Department
School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

Biography

David’s PhD (1990) is in molecular genetics and he has worked on different aspects of virology and immunology including in the USA, where he worked at the University of California (UC) for nine years on HIV and Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), including six years with Dr Jay A. Levy. 

David’s research more recently has focused on viruses that are responsible for causing cancer.  In particular, he concentrates on how such viruses hide from the immune system.  By studying human viruses that have evolved with their host for at least 25 million years, David believes that unique insight into the workings of the immune system can be gained.  This knowledge can then be put to good use to treat immune system disorders.  Techniques include a combination of molecular virology and immunology.

He has either authored or co-authored over £8m in funded research grant awards and published over 75 manuscripts that have been cited over 5000 times (Google Scholar), with two papers cited over 600 times each and a further three papers cited over 200 times each.

David returned to the UK from the USA in 1999 to his first lectureship at the University of Glasgow.  In 2005 he moved to the University of Birmingham and received his Chair there in 2010.  He moved to the University of Surrey to be Head of the Department of Microbial Sciences in August 2013 and in December of that year was appointed Head of the School of Biosciences and Medicine, consisting of four departments, a clinical trials faciility and a clinical trials unit.  He held that position for eight years. 

David is proud to have been appointed Director of the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, commencing January 2022.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6703-4497

External Memberships

David is one of three Founding Directors of Ducentis Biotherapeutics (www.ducentisbio.com) established in 2015 to exploit his research findings to create next generation anti-inflammatory and autoimmune medicines.  David serves as a non-executive board member for Ducentis, which has secured c£4m in start-up funding, including from LifeArc.

He is one of three Editors-in-Chief for FEMS Microbiology Reviews (https://academic.oup.com/femsre), which publishes invited comprehensive and authoritative reviews on all aspects of microbiology from leading authors.  FEMS Microbiology Reviews ranked 6th of 134 Microbiology journals in the 2020 Journal Citation Reports.

Latest Publications

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Research

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

I am currently accepting PhDs in Biomedical Sciences.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.

Biomedical Sciences

Accepting PhDs
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Publications

Page 1 of 4 Results 1 to 25 of 79

  • Pathogenicity and virulence of human T lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) in oncogenesis: adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL)

    Ahmadi Ghezeldasht, S., Blackbourn, D. J., Mosavat, A., Rezaee, S. A.
    Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory Sciences, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 189-211
    Contributions to Journals: Review articles

  • Vitamin D Status of the British African-Caribbean Residents: Analysis of the UK Biobank Cohort

    Vearing, R. M., Hart, K. H., Charlton, K., Probst, Y., Blackbourn, D. J., Ahmadi, K. R., Lanham-New, S. A., Darling, A. L.
    Nutrients, vol. 13, no. 11, 4104
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • KSHV infection drives poorly cytotoxic CD56-negative natural killer cell differentiation in vivo upon KSHV/EBV dual infection

    Caduff, N., McHugh, D., Rieble, L., Forconi, C. S., Ong'echa, J. M., Oluoch, P. O., Raykova, A., Murer, A., Böni, M., Zuppiger, L., Schulz, T. F., Blackbourn, D. J., Chijioke, O., Moormann, A. M., Münz, C.
    Cell Reports, vol. 35, no. 5, 109056
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Very high prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency in 6433 UK South Asian adults: Analysis of the UK Biobank Cohort

    Darling, A. L., Blackbourn, D. J., Ahmadi, K. R., Lanham-New, S. A.
    British Journal of Nutrition, vol. 125, no. 4, pp. 448-459
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Membrane-associated and secreted forms of the rhesus macaque rhadinovirus-encoded CD200 homologue and cellular CD200 demonstrate differential effects on rhesus macaque CD200 receptor signaling and regulation of myeloid cell activation

    Estep, R. D., Govindan, A. N., Fitzpatrick, K., Blair, T. C., Rezaee, S. A., Blackbourn, D. J., Wong, S. W.
    Journal of Virology, vol. 95, no. 5, e01654-20
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Vitamin D supplement use and associated demographic, dietary and lifestyle factors in 8024 South Asians aged 40-69 years: Analysis of the UK Biobank cohort

    Darling, A. L., Blackbourn, D. J., Ahmadi, K. R., Lanham-New, S. A.
    Public Health Nutrition, vol. 21, no. 14, pp. 2678-2688
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Merkel cell polyomavirus small T antigen drives cell motility via Rho-GTPase-induced filopodium formation

    Stakaityte, G., Nwogu, N., Dobson, S. J., Knight, L. M., Wasson, C. W., Salguero, F. J., Blackbourn, D. J., Blair, G. E., Mankouri, J., Macdonald, A., Whitehouse, A.
    Journal of Virology, vol. 92, no. 2, e00940-17
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Persistent KSHV Infection Increases EBV-Associated Tumor Formation In Vivo via Enhanced EBV Lytic Gene Expression

    McHugh, D., Caduff, N., Barros, M. H. M., Rämer, P. C., Raykova, A., Murer, A., Landtwing, V., Quast, I., Styles, C. T., Spohn, M., Fowotade, A., Delecluse, H. J., Papoudou-Bai, A., Lee, Y. M., Kim, J. M., Middeldorp, J., Schulz, T. F., Cesarman, E., Zbinden, A., Capaul, R., White, R. E., Allday, M. J., Niedobitek, G., Blackbourn, D. J., Grundhoff, A., Münz, C.
    Cell Host and Microbe, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 61-73.e7
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Aflatoxin B1 inhibits the type 1 interferon response pathway via STAT1 suggesting another mechanism of hepatocellular carcinoma

    Narkwa, P. W., Blackbourn, D. J., Mutocheluh, M.
    Infectious Agents and Cancer, vol. 12, no. 1, 17
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Activation of DNA damage response pathways during lytic replication of KSHV

    Hollingworth, R., Skalka, G. L., Stewart, G. S., Hislop, A. D., Blackbourn, D. J., Grand, R. J.
    Viruses, vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 2908-2927
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Structural properties of a viral orthologue of cellular CD200 protein: KSHV vOX2

    Ali Amini, A., Solovyova, A. S., Sadeghian, H., Blackbourn, D. J., Rezaee, S. A.
    Virology, vol. 474, pp. 94-104
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Merkel cell polyomavirus small T antigen mediates microtubule destabilization to promote cell motility and migration

    Knight, L. M., Stakaityte, G., Wood, J. J., Abdul-Sada, H., Griffiths, D. A., Howell, G. J., Wheat, R., Blair, G. E., Steven, N. M., Macdonald, A., Blackbourn, D. J., Whitehouse, A.
    Journal of Virology, vol. 89, no. 1, pp. 35-47
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Functional analysis of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus vFLIP expression reveals a new mode of IRES-mediated translation

    Othman, Z., Sulaiman, M. K., Willcocks, M. M., Ulryck, N., Blackbourn, D. J., Sargueil, B., Roberts, L. O., Locker, N.
    RNA , vol. 20, no. 11, pp. 1803-1814
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Inflammatory cell distribution in primary Merkel cell carcinoma

    Wheat, R., Roberts, C., Waterboer, T., Steele, J., Marsden, J., Steven, N. M., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Cancers, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 1047-1064
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Infection and transmission dynamics of rKSHV.219 in primary endothelial cells

    Jeffery, H. C., Wheat, R. L., Blackbourn, D. J., Nash, G. B., Butler, L. M.
    Journal of Virological Methods, vol. 193, no. 1, pp. 251-259
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • An analysis of the function and expression of D6 on lymphatic endothelial cells

    McKimmie, C. S., Singh, M. D., Hewit, K., Lopez-Franco, O., Le Brocq, M., Rose-John, S., Lee, K. M., Baker, A. H., Wheat, R., Blackbourn, D. J., Nibbs, R. J., Graham, G. J.
    Blood, vol. 121, no. 18, pp. 3768-3777
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Introducing viruses and cancer

    Hindle, L. N., Blackbournd, D. J.
    Microbiology Today, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 16-21
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Innate barriers to viral infection

    Damania, B., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Future Microbiology, vol. 7, no. 7, pp. 815-822
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus inhibits expression and function of endothelial cell major histocompatibility complex class II via suppressor of cytokine signaling 3

    Butler, L. M., Jeffery, H. C., Wheat, R. L., Long, H. M., Rae, P. C., Nash, G. B., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Journal of Virology, vol. 86, no. 13, pp. 7158-7166
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Suppression of antigen-specific T cell responses by the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus viral OX2 protein and its cellular orthologue, CD200

    Misstear, K., Chanas, S. A., Rezaee, S. A., Colman, R., Quinn, L. L., Long, H. M., Goodyear, O., Lord, J. M., Hislop, A. D., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Journal of Virology, vol. 86, no. 11, pp. 6246-6257
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Adenovirus E1A interacts directly with, and regulates the level of expression of, the immunoproteasome component MECL1

    Berhane, S., Aresté, C., Ablack, J. N., Ryan, G. B., Blackbourn, D. J., Mymryk, J. S., Turnell, A. S., Steele, J. C., Grand, R. J.
    Virology, vol. 421, no. 2, pp. 149-158
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus viral interferon regulatory factor-2 inhibits type 1 interferon signalling by targeting interferon-stimulated gene factor-3

    Mutocheluh, M., Hindle, L., Aresté, C., Chanas, S. A., Butler, L. M., Lowry, K., Shah, K., Evans, D. J., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Journal of General Virology, vol. 92, no. 10, pp. 2394-2398
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • An interaction between kshv orf57 and uif provides mrna-adaptor redundancy in herpesvirus intronless mrna export

    Jackson, B. R., Boyne, J. R., Noerenberg, M., Taylor, A., Hautbergue, G. M., Walsh, M. J., Wheat, R., Blackbourn, D. J., Wilson, S. A., Whitehouse, A.
    PLoS Pathogens, vol. 7, no. 7, e1002138
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection of endothelial cells inhibits neutrophil recruitment through an interleukin-6-dependent mechanism: A new paradigm for viral immune evasion

    Butler, L. M., Jeffery, H. C., Wheat, R. L., Rae, P. C., Townsend, K., Alkharsah, K. R., Schulz, T. F., Nash, G. B., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Journal of Virology, vol. 85, no. 14, pp. 7321-7332
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Infectious agents in human cancers: Lessons in immunity and immunomodulation from gammaherpesviruses EBV and KSHV

    Taylor, G. S., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Cancer Letters, vol. 305, no. 2, pp. 263-278
    Contributions to Journals: Review articles
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