Professor David J. Blackbourn

Professor David J. Blackbourn
Professor David J. Blackbourn
Professor David J. Blackbourn

Professor of Virology, Interim Head of School

Accepting PhDs

About
Office Address
Polwarth Building
Foresterhill Campus
Foresterhill
AB25 2ZD

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School/Department
School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

Biography

David’s PhD (1990) is in molecular genetics and he has worked on different aspects of virology and immunology including in the USA, where he worked at the University of California (UC) for nine years on HIV and Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), including six years with Dr Jay A. Levy. 

David’s research more recently has focused on viruses that are responsible for causing cancer.  In particular, he concentrates on how such viruses hide from the immune system.  By studying human viruses that have evolved with their host for at least 25 million years, David believes that unique insight into the workings of the immune system can be gained.  This knowledge can then be put to good use to treat immune system disorders.  Techniques include a combination of molecular virology and immunology.

He has either authored or co-authored over £8m in funded research grant awards and published over 75 manuscripts that have been cited over 5000 times (Google Scholar), with two papers cited over 600 times each and a further three papers cited over 200 times each.

David returned to the UK from the USA in 1999 to his first lectureship at the University of Glasgow.  In 2005 he moved to the University of Birmingham and received his Chair there in 2010.  He moved to the University of Surrey to be Head of the Department of Microbial Sciences in August 2013 and in December of that year was appointed Head of the School of Biosciences and Medicine, consisting of four departments, a clinical trials faciility and a clinical trials unit.  He held that position for eight years. 

David is proud to have been appointed Director of the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, commencing January 2022, and from July 2024 Interim Head of the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6703-4497

External Memberships

David is one of three Founding Directors of Ducentis Biotherapeutics (www.ducentisbio.com) established in 2015 to exploit his research findings to create next generation anti-inflammatory and autoimmune medicines.  David serves as a non-executive board member for Ducentis, which has secured c£4m in start-up funding, including from LifeArc.

He is one of three Editors-in-Chief for FEMS Microbiology Reviews (https://academic.oup.com/femsre), which publishes invited comprehensive and authoritative reviews on all aspects of microbiology from leading authors.  FEMS Microbiology Reviews ranked 6th of 134 Microbiology journals in the 2020 Journal Citation Reports.

Latest Publications

View My Publications

Research

Research Overview

David is Professor of Virology and took up the role of interim Head of the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Aberdeen in July 2024. 

David’s research interests have centred on understanding mechanisms of virus immune modulation and hence what these mechanisms can teach us about immune system regulation.  After over eight years in the US working on HIV and related viruses, his independent academic career began in Glasgow in 1999 and continued at the University of Birmingham.  In 2013 he was appointed Head of the School of Biosciences and Medicine, at the University of Surrey and in January 2022 he moved to the role of Director of the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen. 

David was one of three Founding Directors of Ducentis Biotherapeutics established in 2015 to exploit his research creating next generation anti-inflammatory and autoimmune medicines.  After an exit to Arcutis Biotherapeutics in September 2022, he co-founded Dioka Therapeutics (www.diokatherapeutics.com) to create a new intervention for high blood pressure.

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

I am currently accepting PhDs in Biomedical Sciences.


Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.

Biomedical Sciences

Accepting PhDs
Publications

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  • Adenovirus E1A interacts directly with, and regulates the level of expression of, the immunoproteasome component MECL1

    Berhane, S., Aresté, C., Ablack, J. N., Ryan, G. B., Blackbourn, D. J., Mymryk, J. S., Turnell, A. S., Steele, J. C., Grand, R. J.
    Virology, vol. 421, no. 2, pp. 149-158
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus viral interferon regulatory factor-2 inhibits type 1 interferon signalling by targeting interferon-stimulated gene factor-3

    Mutocheluh, M., Hindle, L., Aresté, C., Chanas, S. A., Butler, L. M., Lowry, K., Shah, K., Evans, D. J., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Journal of General Virology, vol. 92, no. 10, pp. 2394-2398
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • An interaction between kshv orf57 and uif provides mrna-adaptor redundancy in herpesvirus intronless mrna export

    Jackson, B. R., Boyne, J. R., Noerenberg, M., Taylor, A., Hautbergue, G. M., Walsh, M. J., Wheat, R., Blackbourn, D. J., Wilson, S. A., Whitehouse, A.
    PLoS Pathogens, vol. 7, no. 7, e1002138
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection of endothelial cells inhibits neutrophil recruitment through an interleukin-6-dependent mechanism: A new paradigm for viral immune evasion

    Butler, L. M., Jeffery, H. C., Wheat, R. L., Rae, P. C., Townsend, K., Alkharsah, K. R., Schulz, T. F., Nash, G. B., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Journal of Virology, vol. 85, no. 14, pp. 7321-7332
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Infectious agents in human cancers: Lessons in immunity and immunomodulation from gammaherpesviruses EBV and KSHV

    Taylor, G. S., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Cancer Letters, vol. 305, no. 2, pp. 263-278
    Contributions to Journals: Review articles
  • Identification of a lysosomal pathway regulating degradation of the bone morphogenetic protein receptor type II

    Durrington, H. J., Upton, P. D., Hoer, S., Boname, J., Dunmore, B. J., Yang, J., Crilley, T. K., Butler, L. M., Blackbourn, D. J., Nash, G. B., Lehner, P. J., Morrell, N. W.
    Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 285, no. 48, pp. 37641-37649
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Identification of caspase-mediated decay of interferon regulatory factor-3, exploited by a Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus immunoregulatory protein

    Aresté, C., Mutocheluh, M., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 284, no. 35, pp. 23272-23285
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Modulation of the immune system by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus

    Aresté, C., Blackbourn, D. J.
    Trends in Microbiology, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 119-129
    Contributions to Journals: Review articles
  • Characterization of the complement inhibitory function of rhesus rhadinovirus complement control protein (RCP)

    Okroj, M., Mark, L., Stokowska, A., Wong, S. W., Rose, N., Blackbourn, D. J., Villoutreix, B. O., Brad Spiller, O., Blom, A. M.
    Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 284, no. 1, pp. 505-514
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Identification and functional characterization of a spliced rhesus rhadinovirus gene with homology to the K15 gene of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus

    Wang, L., Pietrek, M., Brinkmann, M. M., Hävemeier, A., Fischer, I., Hillenbrand, B., Dittrich-Breiholz, O., Kracht, M., Chanas, S., Blackbourn, D. J., Schulz, T. F.
    Journal of General Virology, vol. 90, no. 5, pp. 1190-1201
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
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