Inaugural lectures

Videos of public lectures given by CIR Professors or Chairs newly appointed by the University

Professor Kenneth Baillie

How to test a drug that doesn't exist, for a disease you don't understand

Modern life support enables us to keep people alive when their organs are failing to perform their most basic functions. But beneath the sophistication of the machines and treatments that prevent death, there is a fundamental problem: we simply don't understand the mechanisms causing critical illness. So finding new treatments for the underlying disease processes has been extremely difficult. This is a story of how DNA can help.

Your genome is a vast, written programme that defines everything about how your body works. We live in a gap in history between learning to read that code, and learning to really understand it. But even without understanding how the program works, we can use shortcuts to answer questions about disease. 

April 2026

Professor Jonathan Fallowfield

Scar Wars: from padawan to professor

Liver disease is a silent killer and is on the rise. It is now the biggest cause of death in those aged between 35-49 years old. If detected early, liver disease can often be reversed, but many people present with advanced liver scarring (cirrhosis) when the options for treatment are limited. There is an urgent unmet clinical need for effective treatments, diagnostic tests and preventative strategies for cirrhosis and its complications, to improve outcomes for patients.

These priorities have driven my research efforts, which encompass studies in patients and in the laboratory. Our studies on liver scarring (the dark side) have also shown that the liver harbours innate pathways to degrade scar and restore function (the light side) – enhancing or mimicking these endogenous pathways may be possible using novel therapies. In parallel, advances in imaging and precision diagnostics have provided exciting opportunities for better detection and prognostication.

This talk, like my research, will be broad in scope (ranging from work on liver cells to a pregnancy hormone to MRI scans to coffee!).

November 2021

Professor Damian Mole

Acute pancreatitis: Searching for a new medicine

The pancreas is responsible for digesting all the fat, protein and carbohydrates that we eat, and is essential for health. However, when things go wrong with the pancreas, as happens in inflammation in the pancreas called acute pancreatitis, the results can be catastrophic.

Bridging the gap between research science and treating patients, Damian Mole is a surgeon and clinical scientist trained in laboratory science and in surgery of the liver, bile ducts and pancreas.

In his inaugural lecture, Damian explores how inflammation in the pancreas triggers the body immune system into overdrive, damaging other essential organs such as the lungs and kidneys. Even those who survive severe acute pancreatitis have shorter lifespans and more ill-health.

Importantly, the team, in partnership with the pharmaceutical industry, has developed a new medicine that is being tested in human clinical trials. By identifying molecular subtypes called endotypes within acute pancreatitis, the team is working to target these new treatments to the right patients through precision medicine.

May 2019 

Professor Kev Dhaliwal

Seeing and sensing the inner cosmos

We are in the midst of a new technological revolution. The speed of change is staggering – imagination is driving previously unthinkable innovations.

There is now an unprecedented opportunity to focus these technological advances in order to understand, diagnose and treat human disease.

Professor Kev Dhaliwal describes the development of next-generation technologies using the power of light to visualise, sense and treat disease. Initially focussed on lung conditions, this novel approach can readily be applied to many human illnesses

Clinical translation of these new technologies requires a dedicated team approach from many scientific disciplines, bonded by a spirit of collaboration and creativity. By harnessing this interdisciplinary ethos, we can create new ways to diagnose and treat disease.

March 2019

Professor Debby Bogaert

Born in a microbial cloud: gatekeepers of a healthy life

It was only 350 years ago that the Dutch scientist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek discovered the existence of living ’animalcules’ (Latin for tiny animals), nowadays called microbes. 200 years later scientists proved that specific microbeswere the cause of common diseases like cholera and tuberculosis.

This knowledge changed modern society dramatically, and with the discovery of the antibiotic penicillin by the Scottish scientist Alexander Flemming, the battle against infectious diseases went rapidly uphill. As a result, however, the common belief emerged that microbes in general are bad for human health, and should all be avoided or eliminated.

Only recently, new technology arrived allowing the characterization of all microbial life surrounding and inhabiting us. This marked the start of a new field of science, called microbiome research.

The complete outer and inner surface of the human body is colonized by a highly diverse and complex community of microbes that plays a crucial role in human health. Since every infant is born ‘sterile’, their personal microbiome only starts to assemble during birth, and further develops with every touch, every breath and every feed it takes.

During her lecture, Professor Bogaert, Chair of Paediatric Medicine, will provide new insights regarding how the environment, including exposure to antibiotics, shapes a newborn’s microbiome. Furthermore, she will illustrate the importance of a healthy microbiome, especially regarding respiratory health throughout life.

November 2018

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