Meet the team
The Group Leads work in a highly collaborative manner with over-lapping projects, using in vitro and in vivo models for studying a variety of factors that influence leukocyte trafficking. In vitro models of the vasculature allow us to visualise the effects of blood flow on the behaviour of endothelial cells, and on the recruitment of leukocytes, platelets and stem cells.
Meet our Principal Investigators
Professor Helen McGettrick
Professor of Inflammation and Vascular Biology
As an experimental biologist with over 18 years research experience, Professor Helen McGettrick has gained a recognised international reputation for her innovative and distinctive research in the fields of inflammation, vascular and stromal biology in health and disease, and in particular the use of innovative experimental approaches to develop our understanding of clinically significant conditions.
She leads the Inflammation, Vascular and Bone research group at the University of Birmingham. With her team, she has developed a portfolio of novel 3D multi-cellular, multi-layered in vitro models (co-cultures, organoids, organ/tissue-on-chip) and combines these with ex vivo patient sample analysis, preclinical models of disease and big-data to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning inflammation and tissue repair in health, with age and in disease with the view of translating these findings for patient benefit.
Professor George Edward Ranger
Professor of Chronic Inflammation
Ed Rainger is Professor of Chronic Inflammation in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences. He has published over 120 research papers, reviews and book chapters. Although his work is broadly themed on inflammation, he has a particular interest in leukocyte trafficking and is a member of the Inflammation Biology Group.
Ed is interested in the regulation of inflammation in physiological resolving responses and how these become dysregulated in chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. He believes that by understanding the ‘normal’ processes that control the inflammatory response we can identify new means of intervening therapeutically when these go wrong in disease. Ed holds a number of patents associated with his work and is working to translate new anti-inflammatory medicines which regulate pathways identified in his laboratories.
Professor Asif Iqbal
Professor of Inflammation Biology
Asif Iqbal is Professor of Inflammation Biology and a Birmingham Fellow based at Cardiovascular Sciences.
Research in Asif’s lab is focused on leukocyte recruitment and retention in chronic inflammatory pathologies such as atherosclerosis.
Dr Juma El-Awaisi
Birmingham Springboard Fellow
Dr Juma El-Awaisi is a Birmingham Springboard and Asthma + Lung UK Fellow based in the School of Medical Sciences. His research interests focus on cardio-respiratory thromboinflammation, addressing both acute conditions (heart attacks, COPD flare-ups) and chronic diseases (COPD, heart failure), and the development of new therapeutics to limit tissue damage. He is also interested in the impact of ageing and sex on heart and lung disease, particularly in relation to the smallest blood vessels. Dr El-Awaisi’s interests extend to the application and development of advanced microscopy techniques, including intravital, multiphoton, and laser Speckle imaging, for microvascular studies.