Professor Sarah Walmsley

We study how immune cells called neutrophils detect and respond to changes in oxygen and nutrient levels, and aim to uncover treatments for lung diseases

Professor Sarah Walmsley

Chair of Respiratory Medicine

  • Centre for Inflammation Research

Contact details

Lay Summary 

We study how immune cells called neutrophils detect and respond to changes in oxygen and nutrient levels in the body. These cells play a key role in defending against infections and controlling inflammation. By studying how oxygen availability and metabolism reprogram neutrophil behaviour in both sudden (acute) and long-term (chronic) lung diseases, we aim to uncover new ways to control inflammation and improve treatment.

Research Overview

To date there are no effective treatments for neutrophilic inflammation which is central to the pathology of a number of important respiratory diseases including COPD, bronchiectasis and ARDS. Neutrophils as key effectors of the innate immune response are required to function at sites of inflammation that are relatively oxygen deplete – hypoxic. Unique to the neutrophil hypoxia is a profound survival stimulus. Neutrophils both sense oxygen and respond to changes in oxygenation via the HIF pathway, which involves regulation of the transcription factor hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) by von Hippel Lindau protein and a group of oxygen sensitive hydroxylases – prolyl hydroxylase domain (PHD) containing enzymes and factor inhibiting HIF (FIH). Preliminary data suggest a direct role for this oxygen sensing pathway in the regulation of neutrophil apoptosis at sites of hypoxia. I aim to elucidate the mechanisms regulating HIF-1alpha expression in neutrophils and determine the importance of these pathways for neutrophilic inflammation in vivo.

Research Theme

Infection and Immunity

Group Members

  • Simone Arienti - Medical Research Foundation PhD student
  • Patricia Coelho - Research Fellow
  • Rob Grecian - CRUK ECAT Fellow
  • Ananda Mirchandani - Wellcome Postdoctoral Clinical Fellow
  • Tyler Morrison - ECAT V
  • Tracie Plant - ECAT Fellow (jointly with Professor Moira Whyte)
  • Leila Reyes - Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  • Eilise Ryan – Clinical Research Fellow
  • Pranvera Sadiku - Research Fellow
  • Manuel Sanchez Garcia - Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  • Emily Watts - SCREDS lectureship

Current Projects

  • Regulation of neutrophilic inflammation by the HIF/PHD pathway
  • Neutrophil energetics and oxygen sensing
  • The role of hypoxia in determining cellular outcomes to pulmonary infection and its importance in the pathogenesis of COPD
  • The role of Sema3F in regulating neutrophil recruitment and retention at sites of inflammation
  • How does hypoxia, via the HIF pathway, regulate neutrophil activation and survival

Biographical Profile

I am a Wellcome Senior Clinical Fellow and practising Respiratory Physician.  Following a MRC Training Fellowship in Cambridge during which I obtained my PhD, I moved to the University of Sheffield where I was awarded a Wellcome Intermediate Clinical Fellowship. This enabled me to develop my research programme under the sponsorship of Professor Moira Whyte and complete my specialist clinical training in Respiratory Medicine, culminating in my award of a Wellcome Senior Clinical Fellowship and my move to the MRC/University of Edinburgh Centre for Inflammation Research.

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