Professor Ye Htun Oo MBBS, PhD, FRCP

• Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians, 2017
• PhD in Immunology, 2010
• Member of Royal College of Physicians, 2000
• MBBS with distinctions, 1995

Professor Ye Htun Oo is a translational Physician Scientist. He currently holds a Wellcome Discovery Award, Sir Jules Thorn Biomedical Research Award, and is EDI Lead for the School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology at the College of Medicine and Health. Ye graduated in Medicine from Rangoon, Burma. He underwent general medical training in Scotland, Wales, Worcester and Bournemouth followed by specialisation in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Liver Transplantation at the West Midlands Deanery.

In 2006 he obtained Medical Research Council Clinical Research Training Fellowship to undertake a PhD in the laboratory of Professor David Adams at the University of Birmingham. During his PhD he dissected the recruitment mechanism of regulatory T cells to human liver and developed isolation of GMP-grade regulatory T cells to apply as immunotherapy in autoimmune liver diseases, and liver transplantation. Since 2006, Ye and his team research has focused on hepatic immune regulation, regulatory T cells and mechanisms of immune tolerance.

On completing his specialist medical training in General Medicine/Gastroenterology and Hepatology in 2012, he secured a Medical Research Council Clinician Scientist Award. Subsequently, he joined his great colleagues in Liver Medicine clinical team at the Queen Elizabeth Liver Transplant Unit in Birmingham as a Consultant Hepatologist specialising in management of autoimmune and immune mediated liver diseases. The work during his MRC funded clinician scientist led to the first in autoimmune liver disease early phase trial on Autologous GMP Regulatory T cells homing to the human liver (AUTUMN trial).

In recognition of this work, he was awarded with Sir Frances Avery Jones Award and Medal from the British Society of Gastroenterology. Ye undertook sabbatical visits to Professor Shimon Sakaguchi laboratory at Osaka University in 2017 to learn regulatory T cells biology and to Professor David Assis' lab at the Yale School of Medicine in 2023 to set up collaborative works in autoimmune liver diseases. He also received Whitney-Wood Scholarship from Royal College of Physicians.

His group basic discovery science research dissects the pathogenesis mechanism of autoimmune liver diseases, immune mediated and drug or check point inhibitors induced liver injury with OMICs approach and deep immune profiling to deliver personalised and stratified therapies. They dissect the biology of regulatory T cells in the liver microenvironment and also their interaction with effector T cells and antigen presenting cells in human liver. Ye and team focus to restore hepatic immune tolerance, develop and deliver regulatory T cells-based immunotherapy. He leads Birmingham European Reference Network Rare Liver and is a core team member of NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre.

He creates positive research culture environment and mentor early career basic discovery post-doctoral scientists and post-doctoral clinical academics to become independent investigators.

• Biomedical Science BSc - Liver immunology and autoimmune liver diseases
• MBChB - Liver immunology and autoimmune liver diseases
• Core Clinical Medical Training teaching - Liver immunology and autoimmune liver diseases

Immunology and Immunotherapy teaching

• Liver Immunology
• Autoimmunity and drug-induced liver injury
• Transplantation immunology

Ye supervises doctoral research students in the following areas:

• Hepatic immune tolerance
• Dissecting pathogenesis and exploring causative factors of autoimmune liver diseases

If you are interesting in studying any of these subject areas please contact Professor Ye Oo directly, or for any general doctoral research enquiries, please email mds-gradschool@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

For a full list of available Doctoral Research opportunities, please visit our Doctoral Research programme listings.

Discovery research

His research group focus on basic discovery science in autoimmune liver diseases, develop translational cellular therapy. Ye and his team explore the underlying immune balance in the early and late stage of autoimmune liver diseases. His team dissect intrahepatic immune cells cross talk in the context of microenvironment and develop novel assay. Our previous proof of concept clinical trial with GMP Treg (AUTUMN trial) demonstrated that Treg migrate to human liver. He leads a dynamic, productive research team with collaboration across UK, Europe, Japan, and USA. Professor Oo was also the recipient of Wellcome Discovery Award and Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust Award. His research is also supported by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity.

Clinical research

• Dedicated Autoimmune liver disease clinic at the Centre for Rare Diseases
• Specialist autoimmune hepatitis clinic at Queen Elizabeth Hospital
• Post liver transplant autoimmune hepatitis clinics

Professor Ye Oo with his research team in the Oo Lab, University of Birmingham. 

• ERN Rare Liver Lead – University of Birmingham and UHB NHS Foundation Trust
• Equality Diversity Inclusion Lead - School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology
• BSG guidelines development on autoimmune hepatitis
• Editorial board – Hepatology
• International autoimmune hepatitis group member
• Royal College of Physician (London) Fellow
• Royal College of Physician (Edinburgh) Member
• British Association of Study of Liver member
• British Society of Gastroenterology member
• British Society of Immunology member
• European Association of Study of Liver member
• AASLD Autoimmune Special Interest Group member
• BASL Autoimmune Special Interest Group member
• UK-AIH Founding member &Scientific Committee member