Professor Janet M Lord FMedSci

Professor Janet Lord

Institute of Inflammation and Ageing
Director of the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing
Director of the MRC-Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 371 3234
Telephone (2)
+44 (0)121 371 3243 (PA)
Email
j.m.lord@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@Lord_lab
View my research portal
Address
Institute of Inflammation and Ageing
Birmingham University Research labs.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Mindelsohn Way,
Birmingham
B15 2WB

Janet Lord is Director of the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, a multidisciplinary research institute which brings together fundamental scientists and clinicians to translate understanding of the process of inflammation in to new treatments for chronic age-related inflammatory disease and the consequences of major trauma.

Her own research focusses on the dysregulation of immunity in old age, in particular the decline in neutrophil function and how this compromises the response to infection and tissue injury. She aims to understand the mechanism involved and to develop novel therapies to improve immunity in older adults.

Qualifications

  • Professor of Immune Cell Biology
  • Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences 2015
  • PhD Biological Sciences 1983
  • BSc (Hons) Human Biology 1979

Biography

Janet Lord is Professor of Immune Cell Biology and director of the Institute for Inflammation and Ageing at Birmingham University. She is also director of the MRC-Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research. She is the theme lead for sarcopaenia in the Birmingham NIHR BRC in Inflammation and leads the acute response to injury themes in the NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre and the Scar Free Foundation Centre for Burns Research.

Her primary research focus is on the effect of ageing upon immune function and how this limits the ability of older adults to resolve inflammation occurring in response to infectious challenge or injury. This has led her to research neutrophil function in healthy elders and also after hip fracture and during infections such as pneumonia. She also researches the link between chronic systemic inflammation and physical frailty in old age and has published papers showing that much of the increased systemic inflammation and sarcopaenia associated with ageing can be prevented by high levels of physical activity in adulthood.

Professor Lord has a particular interest in the role played by stress (physical and psychological) and the altered HPA axis in modulating immunity and frailty in old age and following an injury such as hip fracture. She has published several papers showing that a heightened HPA axis (increased cortisol:DHEAS ratio) is associated with poor outcomes after hip fracture.

In 2013 she was awarded the Lord Cohen of Birkenhead medal for her outstanding research in human ageing by the British Society for Research in to Ageing. She was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2015. She has published over 200 original papers and reviews.

Teaching

Postgraduate supervision

  • PhD in Immune Ageing
  • PhD in Musculoskeletal Ageing
  • PhD in Trauma Immunology

Research

  • The effect of ageing on immunity
  • Mechanisms underlying musculoskeletal ageing, sarcopaenia and frailty
  • The inflammatory response after major trauma and influence on patient outcomes
  • Factors influencing scarring after burn injury
  • The role of immune ageing in rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis

Other activities

  • Section editor for the Journal Ageing Cell

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Chimen, M, Evryviadou, A, Box, CL, Harrison, MJ, Hazeldine, J, Dib, LH, Kuravi, SJ, Payne, H, Price, JMJ, Kavanagh, D, Iqbal, AJ, Lax, S, Kalia, N, Brill, A, Thomas, SG, Belli, A, Crombie, N, Adams, RA, Evans, S-A, Deckmyn, H, Lord, JM, Harrison, P, Watson, SP, Nash, GB & Rainger, GE 2020, 'Appropriation of GPIbα from platelet-derived extracellular vesicles supports monocyte recruitment in systemic inflammation', Haematologica, vol. 105, no. 5, pp. 1248-1261. https://doi.org/10.3324/haematol.2018.215145

Hopkin, S, Lord, JM & Chimen, M 2020, 'Dysregulation of leukocyte trafficking in ageing: Causal factors and possible corrective therapies', Pharmacological Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2020.105323

Wilson, D, Drew, W, Jasper, A, Crisford, H, Nightingale, P, Newby, P, Jackson, T, Lord, J & Sapey, E 2020, 'Frailty is associated with neutrophil dysfunction which is correctable with phosphoinositol-3-kinase inhibitors', The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, vol. 75, no. 12, pp. 2320-2325. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaa216

Welford, AE, Lanham-New, S, Lord, J, Doyle, A, Robinson, J, Nightingale, P, Gittoes, N & Greig, CA 2020, 'Influence of combined vitamin D3 supplementation and resistance exercise training on musculoskeletal health in older men and women (EXVITD): protocol for a randomised controlled trial', BMJ open, vol. 10, no. 3, e033824. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-033824

Foster, M, Taylor, A, Bishop, J, Gilligan, L, Bion, J, Lord, J & Arlt, W 2020, 'Mapping the steroid response to major trauma from injury to recovery: a prospective cohort study', Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, vol. 105, no. 3, dgz302. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgz302

Chandan, J, Zemedikun, D, Thayakaran, R, Byrne, N, Dhalla , S, Acosta-Mena , D, Gokhale, K, Thomas, T, Sainsbury, C, Subramanian, A, Cooper, J, Anand, A, Okoth, K, Wang, J, Adderley, N, Taverner, T, Denniston, A, Lord, J, Thomas, GN, Buckley, C, Raza, K, Bhala, N, Nirantharakumar, K & Haroon, S 2020, 'Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and susceptibility to COVID-19', Arthritis and Rheumatology.

Prete, A, Taylor, A, Bancos, I, Smith, D, Foster, M, Kohler, S, Fazal-Sanderson, V, Komninos, J, O'Neil, D, Vas, D, Mowatt, C, Mihai, R, Fallowfield, J, Annane, D, Lord, J, Keevil, B, Wass, J, Karavitaki, N & Arlt, W 2020, 'Prevention of adrenal crisis: cortisol responses to major stress compared to stress dose hydrocortisone delivery', Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, vol. 105, no. 7, dgaa133, pp. 1–13 . https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgaa133

Allen, SL, Quinlan, JI, Dhaliwal, A, Armstrong, MJ, Elsharkawy, AM, Greig, CA, Lord, JM, Lavery, GG & Breen, L 2020, 'Sarcopenia in Chronic Liver Disease: Mechanisms and Countermeasures', American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpgi.00373.2020

Gittoes, N, Lord, J, Doyle, A, Robinson, J, Nightingale, P, Greig, C, Welford, A & Lanham-New, S 2020, 'The influence of combined vitamin D3 supplementation and resistance exercise training on musculoskeletal health in older men and women (EXVITD): protocol for a randomized controlled trial', BMJ open.

Welch, C, Greig, CA, Hassan-Smith, ZK, Pinkney, TD, Lord, JM & Jackson, TA 2019, 'A pilot observational study measuring acute sarcopenia in older colorectal surgery patients', BMC Research Notes, vol. 12, no. 1, 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-019-4049-y

Wilson, DV, Moorey, H, Stringer, H, Sahbudin, I, Filer, A, Lord, JM & Sapey, E 2019, 'Bilateral anterior thigh thickness: a new diagnostic tool for the identification of low muscle mass?', Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, vol. 20, no. 10, pp. 1247-1253.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2019.04.005

Editorial

Price, J, Lord, J & Harrison, P 2019, '"Inflammaging and Platelet Hyperreactivity:- A new therapeutic target?"', Journal of thrombosis and haemostasis : JTH.

Review article

Hazeldine, J & Lord, JM 2020, 'Immunesenescence: A Predisposing Risk Factor for the Development of COVID-19?', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 11, 573662. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.573662

Ermogenous, C, Green, C, Jackson, T, Ferguson, M & Lord, JM 2020, 'Treating age-related multimorbidity: the drug discovery challenge', Drug Discovery Today, vol. 25, no. 8, pp. 1403-1415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drudis.2020.06.016

Duggal, N, Niemiro, G, Simpson, R, Harridge, S & Lord, J 2019, 'Can physical activity ameliorate immunosenescence and thereby reduce age-related multi-morbidity?', Nature Reviews Immunology. https://doi.org/10.1038/ s41577-019-0177-9

View all publications in research portal