Dr James Alexander Pearson PhD, BSc

Dr James Alexander Pearson

Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy
Associate Professor of Cellular Immunology
125th Anniversary Fellow

Contact details

Email
j.a.pearson@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
Institute of Biomedical Research
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

James Pearson is a Type 1 diabetes immunology researcher, leading his own research group since 2020. His groups research focuses on preventing the development of Type 1 diabetes by better understanding the immune system to develop/improve therapies.

Qualifications

  • Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, 2024
  • PhD, Cardiff University, 2014
  • BSc. Hons. Pathology & Microbiology, University of Bristol, 2010

Biography

James Pearson is an Associate Professor of Cellular Immunology and 125th Anniversary Fellow at the University of Birmingham leading his independent research group studying the immunology of type 1 diabetes. His groups research interests include understanding how insulin-producing cell proteins (antigen), immune proteins (e.g. co-receptors) and germs (microbiota) alter how T cells (and other immune cells) work to identify potential opportunities for development of therapies to both prevent Type 1 diabetes and preserve the insulin-producing cells in those living with Type 1 diabetes.

His group also studies how time-of-day alters immune cells, and how this can be taken advantage of to improve screening for type 1 diabetes risk, as well as when best to administer therapy to maximise clinical success.

His lab is currently supported by the Steve Morgan Foundation Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge, as well as funding from Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF).

James is an active member/participant in diabetes volunteer support groups and public engagement activities aimed at raising awareness of type 1 diabetes. He is also a co-founder of the Cardiff Diabetes Innovation Committee, a group of young people living with type 1 diabetes, that co-created an interactive research event around research that matters to them.

He is the Treasurer of the Autoimmunity affinity group within the British Society for Immunology and is Chair of the Breakthrough T1D UK Scientific Advisory Council.

Postgraduate supervision

Areas I can provide doctoral supervision in include Type 1 diabetes immunology, autoimmunity, circadian rhythms, microbiome.

Research

Current research

  1. Evaluating whether administering immune therapy at different times of day influences therapy responses aimed at boosting the body’s own insulin-producing cell bodyguards, the regulatory T cells/Tregs. This work was supported on behalf of the “Steve Morgan Foundation Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge” by Breakthrough T1D UK (formerly JDRF) and SMF (grant number 2-SRA-2024-1474-M-N)
  2. Investigating whether dysregulated immune responses to a bacteria product can provide a new way to better identify individuals at risk of developing Type 1 diabetes. This work is supported by a Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) grant (3-SRA-2025-1784-S-B)
  3. Identifying whether a protein (CD62L) on immune cells related to migration to the pancreas is altered in immune cells in people at risk of, or living with, Type 1 diabetes. This work is supported by a Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) grant (3-SRA-2024-1584-S-B)
  4. Exploring whether new drug targets can prevent the development of Type 1 diabetes in mice which naturally develop Type 1 diabetes similar to humans. This work is funded through Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) grants (3-SRA-2026-1893-M-B, 3-SRA-2024-1571-S-B, 3-SRA-2025-1765-S-B)

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Pearson, JA, Li, Y, Huang, J, Peng, J, Wong, FS & Wen, L 2026, 'IL17-deficient NOD mice are protected from autoimmune diabetes due to decreased antigen presentation and T cell activation', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 16, 1728313. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1728313

Egbase, D, Sayers, SR, Haq, N, Gesheva, VS, Varghese, JJ, Bhattacharya, S, Kynaston, J, Hubber, EL, Smith, LIF, Pullen, TJ, Gerdes, H, Lee, VK, Hopkins, D, Zhao, M, Cheah, Y, Greally, J, Butterworth, S, Pearson, JA, Bewick, GA, Persaud, SJ & Caton, PW 2026, 'NAMPT activity plays a key role in driving autoimmune processes that mediate beta-cell death and type 1 diabetes development in mice', Cell Death and Disease. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-026-08700-6

Zhang, L, Xing, Y, Wang, P, Gu, J, Peng, J, Huang, J, Pearson, JA, Hu, Y, Zhao, H, Wong, FS & Wen, L 2025, 'Pdgfrα deficiency in islet β-cells up-regulates apoptosis of beta-cells and disturbs glucose metabolism in B6 mice', Frontiers in Endocrinology, vol. 16, 1630979. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2025.1630979

Jenkins, BJ, Jenkins, YR, Ponce-Garcia, FM, Moscrop, C, Perry, IA, Hitchings, MD, Uribe, AH, Bernuzzi, F, Eastham, S, Cronin, JG, Berisha, A, Howell, A, Davies, J, Blagih, J, Williams, M, Marsden, M, Veale, DJ, Davies, LC, Niphakis, M, Finlay, DK, Sinclair, LV, Cravatt, BF, Hogan, AE, Nathan, JA, Humphreys, IR, Fearon, U, Sumpton, D, Vande Voorde, J, Vale, GDD, McDonald, JG, Jones, GW, Pearson, JA, Vincent, EE & Jones, N 2025, 'Mitochondrial ABHD11 inhibition drives sterol metabolism to modulate T-cell effector function', Nature Communications, vol. 16, no. 1, 9484. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65417-4

Wang, P, Yang, X, Zhang, L, Sha, S, Huang, J, Peng, J, Gu, J, Pearson, JA, Hu, Y, Zhao, H, Wong, FS, Wang, Q & Wen, L 2024, 'Tlr9 deficiency in B cells leads to obesity by promoting inflammation and gut dysbiosis', Nature Communications, vol. 15, no. 1, 4232. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-48611-8

Haq, N, Toczyska, KW, Wilson, ME, Jacobs, M, Zhao, M, Lei, Y, Shen, Z, Pearson, JA, Persaud, SJ, Pullen, TJ & Bewick, GA 2024, 'Reformed islets: a long-term primary cell platform for exploring mouse and human islet biology', Cell Death Discovery, vol. 10, no. 1, 480. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41420-024-02234-6

Pearson, JA, Hu, Y, Peng, J, Wong, FS & Wen, L 2024, 'TLR5-deficiency controls dendritic cell subset development in an autoimmune diabetes-susceptible model', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 15, 1333967. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1333967

Boldison, J, Hopkinson, JR, Davies, J, Pearson, JA, Leete, P, Richardson, S, Morgan, NG & Wong, FS 2023, 'Gene expression profiling in NOD mice reveals that B cells are highly educated by the pancreatic environment during autoimmune diabetes', Diabetologia, vol. 66, no. 3, pp. 551-566. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-022-05839-7

Pearson, JA, Peng, J, Huang, J, Yu, X, Tai, N, Hu, Y, Sha, S, Flavell, RA, Zhao, H, Wong, FS & Wen, L 2023, 'NLRP6 deficiency expands a novel CD103+ B cell population that confers immune tolerance in NOD mice', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 14, 1147925. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1147925

Pearson, JA, Ding, H, Hu, C, Peng, J, Galuppo, B, Wong, FS, Caprio, S, Santoro, N & Wen, L 2022, 'IgM-associated gut bacteria in obesity and type 2 diabetes in C57BL/6 mice and humans', Diabetologia, vol. 65, no. 8, pp. 1398-1411. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-022-05711-8

Review article

Wong, FS, Pearson, JA & Wen, L 2026, 'Is the NOD mouse a good model for type 1 diabetes?', Diabetologia, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 3-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-025-06579-0

Chan, K, Wong, FS & Pearson, JA 2022, 'Circadian rhythms and pancreas physiology: A review', Frontiers in Endocrinology, vol. 13, 920261. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2022.920261

Huang, J, Pearson, JA, Wong, FS, Wen, L & Zhou, Z 2022, 'Innate immunity in latent autoimmune diabetes in adults', Diabetes/metabolism research and reviews, vol. 38, no. 1, e3480. https://doi.org/10.1002/dmrr.3480

Pearson, JA, Mckinney, EF & Walker, LSK 2021, '100 years post-insulin: immunotherapy as the next frontier in type 1 diabetes', Immunotherapy Advances, vol. 1, no. 1, ltab024. https://doi.org/10.1093/immadv/ltab024

Short survey

Pearson, JA & Hanna, SJ 2025, 'Mini review: Interleukin-32 as a key mediator of type 1 diabetes pathogenesis', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 16, 1641698. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1641698

View all publications in research portal