Dr Lisa J Hill BSc (Hons.) PhD FHEA MRSB

Image of Lisa Hill

Institute of Clinical Sciences
Assistant Professor/Lecturer in Ocular Disease and Therapeutics
ICS Cross-cutting Research Theme Lead

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 6620
Email
l.j.hill@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@Neuroscience_Dr
View my research portal
Address
Institute of Clinical Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Lisa is a biological scientist by training and completed her PhD at the University of Birmingham in 2015. She has since undertaken research placements at Queen’s University Belfast (UK), University California Irvine (USA) and the University of Melbourne (Australia). She is now conducting pioneering research in the fields of extracellular matrix biology, ocular disease and therapeutics.  Over the last decade, she has focussed on understanding how inflammation and dysfunctions in extracellular matrix can lead to blinding diseases including glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and uveitis.  This has led to her identifying and developing new immuno- and anti-scarring therapies to treat blinding diseases and she has developed and patented technologies used for delivering drugs into the eye.

Lisa teaches on Biomedical Science, Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy undergraduate degrees and hosts multiple post-graduate research projects with PhD students based at Birmingham and Melbourne. She is also the Access to Birmingham Lead Tutor for Biomedical Science as part of the widening participation programmes.  Dr Hill is leading PhD projects within the ‘LifETIME (Engineered Tissues for Discovery, Industry and Medicine) CDT partnership between the University of Glasgow, the University of Birmingham, Aston University and CÚRAM (Science Foundation Ireland). She is also an elected member of the Royal Society of Biology and is the Institute’s Cross-cutting Research Theme Lead for Discovery and Translational Science.   

Qualifications

  • Member of the Royal Society of Biology (MRSB), 2020
  • Post-graduate Certificate in Higher Education, 2020
  • PhD in Medicine, 2015
  • BMedSc Neuroscience, 2010

Teaching

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Hill supervises Masters and PhD students in projects relating to:

  • Ocular inflammatory/fibrotic diseases
  • Degenerative diseases of the eye (AMD, Glaucoma)
  • Technologies to enhance ocular drug delivery
  • Tissue Engineering in vitro models of the eye
  • Assessing the efficacy of new therapies using pre-clinical models of ocular disease

If interested in undertaking research in Lisa’s laboratory, please contact her on l.j.hill@bham.ac.uk

Research

Research Interests

  • Developing in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo models of ocular disease
  • Understanding extracellular matrix dynamics in the healthy and diseased eye
  • Developing new therapies for ocular disease
  • Developing methods to deliver drugs into the eye

Current Projects

  • Developing anti-fibrotic treatments for glaucoma
  • Investigating mechanisms of extracellular matrix dysfunctions in glaucoma
  • Development of Immunotherapies for Age-related Macular Degeneration
  • Investigating the use of Vitamin B3 in Neurodegenerative Diseases 

For additional information on research and publications please visit Lisa's Google Scholar Profile and Research Gate Profile.

Other activities

Awards:

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Authority 2020
  • Institute of Clinical Sciences Director’s Award 2019
  • IChemE Global Awards Finalist for Biotechnology 2017
  • House of Commons “SETforBRITAIN” finalist, Westminster UK 2016
  • Members-In-Training Outstanding Award,  ARVO, USA 2012

Citizen/Patient Engagement and Outreach

  • Current ‘Access to Birmingham’ Lead Tutor for widening participation
  • Current Cross-cutting Theme Lead for Institute of Clinical Sciences
  • Research featured in Fight for Sight funding campaign 2019
  • Regular presenter at Macular Society patient groups
  • Current student/post-graduate mentor.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Robinson, T, Eisenstein, N, Cox, S, Moakes, R, Thompson, AM, Ahmed, Z, Hughes, E, Hill, LJ, Stapley, S & Grover, L 2020, 'Local injection of a hexametaphosphate formulation reduces heterotopic ossification in vivo', Materials today. Bio, vol. 7, 100059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2020.100059

Wu, M, Downie, L, Grover, L, Moakes, R, Rauz, S, Logan, A, Jiao, H, Hill, LJ & Chinnery, HR 2020, 'The neuroregenerative effects of topical decorin on the injured mouse cornea', Journal of Neuroinflammation, vol. 17, no. 1, 142. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-020-01812-6, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-020-01812-6

Nirbhavane, P, Sharma, G, Singh, B, Begum, G, Jones, M-C, Rauz, S, Vincent, R, Denniston, A, Hill, LJ & Katare, OP 2020, 'Triamcinolone acetonide loaded-cationic nano-lipoidal formulation for uveitis: evidences of improved biopharmaceutical performance and anti-inflammatory activity', Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, vol. 190, 110902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2020.110902

Chouhan, G, Moakes, RJA, Esmaeili, M, Hill, LJ, deCogan, F, Hardwicke, J, Rauz, S, Logan, A & Grover, LM 2019, 'A self-healing hydrogel eye drop for the sustained delivery of decorin to prevent corneal scarring', Biomaterials, vol. 210, pp. 41-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.04.013

De Silva, MEH, Hill, LJ, Downie, LE & Chinnery, HR 2019, 'The effects of aging on corneal and ocular surface homeostasis in mice', Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), vol. 60, no. 7, pp. 2705-2715. https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.19-26631

Hill, LJ, Di Pietro, V, Hazeldine, J, Davies, D, Toman, E, Logan, A & Belli, A 2018, 'Author Correction: Cystatin D (CST5): An ultra-early inflammatory biomarker of traumatic brain injury', Scientific Reports, vol. 8, 4572. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22951-0

Williams, AC & Hill, LJ 2018, 'Nicotinamide's Ups and Downs: Consequences for Fertility, Development, Longevity and Diseases of Poverty and Affluence', International Journal of Tryptophan Research, vol. 11, pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178646918802289

Hill, LJ, Moakes, R, Vareechon, C, Butt, G, Ng, A, Brock, K, Chouhan, G, Vincent, R, Abbondante, S, Williams, R, Barnes, N, Pearlman, E, Wallace, G, Rauz, S, Logan, A & Grover, L 2018, 'Sustained release of decorin to the surface of the eye enables scarless corneal regeneration', npj Regenerative Medicine, vol. 3, 23. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41536-018-0061-4

Review article

Bennett, N, Chinnery, HR, Downie, L, Hill, LJ & Grover, L 2020, 'Material, immunological, and practical perspectives on eye drop formulation', Advanced Functional Materials, vol. 30, no. 14, 1908476. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201908476

Williams, AC & Hill, LJ 2020, 'The 4 D's of pellagra and progress', International Journal of Tryptophan Research, vol. 13, pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178646920910159, https://doi.org/10.1177/1178646920910159

Jiao, H, Hill, LJ, Downie, LE & Chinnery, HR 2019, 'Anterior segment optical coherence tomography: its application in clinical practice and experimental models of disease', Clinical and Experimental Optometry, vol. 102, no. 3, pp. 208-217. https://doi.org/10.1111/cxo.12835

Williams, AC & Hill, LJ 2019, 'Nicotinamide and demographic and disease transitions: moderation is best', International Journal of Tryptophan Research, vol. 12, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178646919855940

Williams, AC & Hill, LJ 2019, 'Nicotinamide as independent variable for intelligence, fertility, and health: origin of human creative explosions?', International Journal of Tryptophan Research, vol. 12, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178646919855944

Scotton, WJ, Hill, LJ, Williams, AC & Barnes, NM 2019, 'Serotonin syndrome: pathophysiology, clinical features, management, and potential future directions', International Journal of Tryptophan Research, vol. 12, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178646919873925

Cooke, M, Jones, S, Ter Horst, B, Moiemen, N, Snow, M, Chouhan, G, Hill, LJ, Esmaeli, M, Moakes, R, Holton, J, Nandra, R, Williams, R, Smith, AM & Grover, L 2018, 'Structuring of hydrogels across multiple length scales for biomedical applications', Advanced Materials, vol. 30, no. 14, 1705013. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201705013

View all publications in research portal