Neil Mabbott

Neil Mabbott graduated in 1992 with a B.Sc. (hons) in microbiology from the University of Leeds, UK. He then undertook a Ph.D. at the University of Aberdeen, UK, in Dr. Jeremy Sternberg's lab. where he studied the role of macrophages in causing immunosuppression in African trypanosome infections. In 1995 upon completion of his Ph.D. he then joined the Neuropathogenesis Unit at the Institute for Animal Health where as a post-doc he began studying the role of the immune system in prion diseases (also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies).

Neil now leads his own research group and is the Head of the Immunology Division at the Roslin Institute & Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK. Neil was awarded a Personal Chair in Immunopathology in 2016. Here his research aims to understand the interactions of infectious diseases within the immune system. Particular interests include understanding host-pathogen interactions within the mucosal immune system, especially prion diseases and other gastrointestinal pathogens such as Salmonella and nematodes. Studies are also focused on the effects of host age on the function of the immune system and how this influences susceptibility to gastrointestinal pathogens. A systems biology approach is also being used to compare the transcriptomic profiles of distinct immune cell populations in the steady-state and during ageing.