Dr Ailish McCafferty-Brown (BSc PhD)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

  • Jonathan Fallowfield Research Group
  • Centre for Inflammation Research
  • Institute for Regeneration and Repair

Contact details

Address

Street

Centre for Inflammation Research
Institute for Regeneration & Repair
Edinburgh Bioquarter
4-5 Little France Drive

City
Edinburgh
Post code
EH16 4UU

Biography

Background

Ailish graduated with a First-Class Honours degree in Immunology BSc (Hons) at the University of Glasgow in 2020, before moving to the University of Leeds in the same year to start her PhD. Ailish undertook her PhD in the Virus-Host Interactions Team in the Leeds Institute of Medical Research, under the supervision of Dr Clive McKimmie, and graduated in 2024. Her research studied the impact of pre-existing skin inflammation in the skin, triggered by inflammatory disease or environmental factors, on host susceptibility to mosquito-borne virus infection. During her PhD, Ailish was a finalist for the Microbiology Society’s Sir Howard Dalton Young Microbiologist of the Year award and was selected for the British Society for Immunology’s Bright Sparks session, both of which recognise the research and presentation skills of early-career researchers. After her PhD, Ailish completed a short post-doc within the Skin Research Centre in the Hull-York Medical School at the University of York, investigating the clinical efficacy and inflammatory response to a novel vaccine for Zika virus. Following this, Ailish started at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Regeneration and Repair, Centre for Inflammation Research, within the Jonathan Fallowfield Research Group. Here, she is investigating the role of GPR35, a GPCR, in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) using a multi-faceted approach combining a humanised mouse model and primary samples from MASLD patients.

Qualifications

2020 - First-Class BSc (Hons) in Immunology, University of Glasgow

2024 - PhD in Medicine, University of Leeds

Current research interests

Ailish’s research aims to investigate the role of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) GPR35 in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). MASLD is the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide, yet there is a massive unmet need for effective therapies. GPR35 has shown promise as a potential therapeutic target in this context but there is much that yet needs to be understood regarding the basic biology underlying this., Ailish’s project utilises in vivo mouse models of MASLD alongside samples from MASLD patients to further unpick this.

Conference details

Microbiology Society's Annual Conference 2024, Edinburgh - Oral Presentation

British Society for Immunology's Annual Congress 2023, Belfast - Oral Presentation (Bright Sparks Session)

Microbiology Society's Annual Conference 2022, Belfast - Oral Presentation

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