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

Image of Lisa Hill

School of Biomedical Sciences
Associate Professor in Ocular Disease and Therapeutics
ICS Cross-cutting Research Theme Lead
Affiliated with the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing

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

Wu, M, Downie, LE, Hill, LJ & Chinnery, HR 2023, 'Topical Decorin Reduces Corneal Inflammation and Imparts Neuroprotection in a Mouse Model of Benzalkonium Chloride-induced Corneal Neuropathy', Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), vol. 64, no. 2, 20. https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.64.2.20

Wu, M, Downie, LE, Hill, LJ & Chinnery, HR 2022, 'The effect of topical decorin on temporal changes to corneal immune cells after epithelial abrasion', Journal of Neuroinflammation, vol. 19, no. 1, 90. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-022-02444-8

Thomas, C, Alfahad, N, Capewell, N, Cowley, J, Hickman, E, Fernandez, A, Harrison, N, Qureshi, O, Bennett, N, Barnes, N, Dick, A, Chu, C, Liu, X, Denniston, A, Vendrell, M & Hill, LJ 2022, 'Triazole-derivatized near-infrared cyanine dyes enable local functional fluorescent imaging of ocular inflammation', Biosensors and Bioelectronics , vol. 216, 114623. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2022.114623

Hill, LJ, Botfield, H, Begum, G, Qureshi, O, Vigneswara, V, Masood, I, Barnes, N, Bruce, L & Logan, A 2021, 'ILB® resolves inflammatory scarring and promotes functional tissue repair', npj Regenerative Medicine, vol. 6, no. 1, 3. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41536-020-00110-2

Mahmood, S, Shahzad, H, Haque, S, Denniston, A, Paudyal, V, Downie, L, Hill, LJ & Jalal, Z 2020, 'A systematic review and meta-analysis on treatment non-adherence and non-persistence to intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy', PROSPERO. <https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42020216205>

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

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Williams, AC & Hill, LJ 2021, Inequality: The Dangers of Meat Haves and Have-Nots in a Nicotinamide-Adenine-Dinucleotide World. in Meat and Nutrition. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96748

Williams, AC & Hill, LJ 2021, Poverty and Pellagra’s Penumbras. in JG LeBlanc (ed.), B-Complex Vitamins - Sources, Intakes and Novel Applications. IntechOpen. <https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/78520>

Chapter

Williams, AC & Hill, LJ 2022, Meat and Vitamin B3: Getting a Grip on Engel’s Curve. in JG LeBlanc (ed.), B-Complex Vitamins - Sources, Intakes and Novel Applications. IntechOpen, pp. 47-78. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100056

Review article

Thomas, CN, Sim, DA, Lee, WH, Alfahad, N, Dick, AD, Denniston, A & Hill, LJ 2022, 'Emerging therapies and their delivery for treating age-related macular degeneration', British Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 179, no. 9, pp. 1908-1937. https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.15459

Elghobashy, M, Lamont, H, Morelli-Batters, A, Masood, I & Hill, LJ 2022, 'Magnesium and its role in Primary Open Angle Glaucoma; a novel therapeutic?', Frontiers in Ophthalmology , vol. 2, 897128. https://doi.org/10.3389/fopht.2022.897128

Wu, M, Hill, LJ, Downie, LE & Chinnery, HR 2022, 'Neuroimmune crosstalk in the cornea: The role of immune cells in corneal nerve maintenance during homeostasis and inflammation', Progress in Retinal and Eye Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.preteyeres.2022.101105

Morelli-batters, A, Lamont, HC, Elghobashy, M, Masood, I & Hill, LJ 2022, 'The role of Vitamin D3 in ocular fibrosis and its therapeutic potential for the glaucomatous trabecular meshwork', Frontiers in Ophthalmology, vol. 2, 897118. https://doi.org/10.3389/fopht.2022.897118

Lamont, HC, Masood, I, Grover, LM, El Haj, A & Hill, LJ 2021, 'Fundamental biomaterial considerations in the development of a 3D model representative of primary open angle glaucoma', Bioengineering, vol. 8, no. 11, 147. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering8110147

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

View all publications in research portal