Dr Rebecca A Drummond

Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy
Birmingham Fellow

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0)121 414 3006
Email: r.drummond@bham.ac.uk
Twitter: @theRAD_lab

Address: Department of Immunology & Immunotherapy
College of Medicine and Health
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT

Rebecca Drummond is a fungal immunologist researching mechanisms of immunity that protect us from fungal pathogens, such as Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans.

Her lab is particularly interested in how organ-specific immune responses develop by studying the behaviour of tissue-resident myeloid cells during infection and the microbial response to the environment within host tissues.

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Qualifications

PG Certificate in Higher Education (2024)
PhD Immunobiology, University of Aberdeen (2014)
BSc (Hons) Immunology, University of Edinburgh (2010)

Biography

Rebecca completed her BSc in Immunology with Honours at the University of Edinburgh in 2010. She then moved to the University of Aberdeen and joined the Aberdeen Fungal Group, where she earned her PhD in 2014. Rebecca's doctoral research focused on understanding mechanisms of adaptive antifungal immunity and revealed a novel role for the innate receptor Dectin-1 in the gut (Drummond et al, 2016, Mucosal Immunology), as well as identifying defects in the fungal-specific T-cell response in the kidney (Drummond et al, 2014, JI).

In 2014, Rebecca moved to the USA to work at the National Institutes of Health. Here, she primarily focused on understanding the pathogenesis of human CARD9 deficiency, a primary immunodeficiency disease that predisposes to fungal infection of the brain (Drummond et al, 2015, PLoS Pathogens; Drummond et al, 2019, Nature Immunology).

In 2018, Rebecca was awarded a Birmingham Fellow position to set up her own research group at the University of Birmingham. She was subsequently awarded a Career Development Award from the MRC and a Springboard Award from the Academy of Medical Sciences to establish her research. In 2024, Rebecca become a Lister Institute Fellow. She is currently funded by the MRC, Wellcome Trust and Lister Institute.

In addition to her research, Rebecca is actively involved with public engagement with science and is a regular contributor to The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebecca-a-drummond-1344962) and has been quoted in multiple newspapers and blogs on topics spanning fungal infections, gut microbes and antimicrobial resistance. She is a listed expert with the Science Media Centre and has completed media training.

Postgraduate supervision

Students interested in working with Dr Drummond should contact her directly by emailing r.drummond@bham.ac.uk

Research

Diseases that are a current focus in the group are:

Cryptococcal meningitis
Invasive candidiasis

We are most interested in organs that become infected in these diseases (brain, kidney, gut, lungs) and the immune responses occurring there, especially that of myeloid cells. Another major interest in the group is how fungi behave and respond to their environment within different organs, and how this shapes the subsequent immune response.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Lecky, D, Sheriff, L, Rouvray, S, George, LS, Copland, A, Drummond, R, Wraith, D & Bending, D 2025, 'Interferon-γ and IL-27 positively regulate type 1 regulatory T-cell development during adaptive tolerance', iScience.

Mohamed, SH, Vanhoffelen, E, Shun Fu, M, Hei Lau, P, Hain, S, Seldeslachts, L, Cosway, E, Anderson, G, McCulloch, L, Vande Velde, G & Drummond, RA 2024, 'CSF1R inhibition by PLX5622 reduces pulmonary fungal infection by depleting MHCII^hi interstitial lung macrophages', Mucosal immunology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mucimm.2024.08.007

Mohamed, SH, Fu, MS, Hain, S, Alselami, A, Vanhoffelen, E, Li, Y, Bojang, E, Lukande, R, Ballou, ER, May, RC, Ding, C, Velde, GV & Drummond, RA 2023, 'Microglia are not protective against cryptococcal meningitis', Nature Communications, vol. 14, no. 1, 7202. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43061-0

Drummond, RA, Desai, JV, Hsu, AP, Oikonomou, V, Vinh, DC, Acklin, JA, Abers, MS, Walkiewicz, MA, Anzick, SL, Swamydas, M, Vautier, S, Natarajan, M, Oler, AJ, Yamanaka, D, Mayer-Barber, KD, Iwakura, Y, Bianchi, D, Driscoll, B, Hauck, K, Kline, A, Viall, NSP, Zerbe, CS, Ferré, EMN, Schmitt, MM, Dimaggio, T, Pittaluga, S, Butman, JA, Zelazny, AM, Shea, YR, Arias, CA, Ashbaugh, C, Mahmood, M, Temesgen, Z, Theofiles, AG, Nigo, M, Moudgal, V, Bloch, KC, Kelly, SG, Whitworth, MS, Rao, G, Whitener, CJ, Mafi, N, Gea-Banacloche, J, Kenyon, LC, Miller, WR, Boggian, K, Gilbert, A, Sincock, M, Freeman, AF, Bennett, JE, Hasbun, R, Mikelis, CM, Kwon-Chung, KJ, Belkaid, Y, Brown, GD, Lim, JK, Kuhns, DB, Holland, SM & Lionakis, MS 2022, 'Human Dectin-1 deficiency impairs macrophage-mediated defense against phaeohyphomycosis', Journal of Clinical Investigation, vol. 132, no. 22, e159348. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI159348

Drummond, RA, Desai, JV, Ricotta, EE, Swamydas, M, Deming, C, Conlan, S, Quinones, M, Matei-Rascu, V, Sherif, L, Lecky, D, Lee, C-CR, Green, NM, Collins, N, Zelazny, AM, Prevots, DR, Bending, D, Withers, D, Belkaid, Y, Segre, JA & Lionakis, MS 2022, 'Long-term antibiotic exposure promotes mortality after systemic fungal infection by driving lymphocyte dysfunction and systemic escape of commensal bacteria', Cell Host & Microbe, vol. 30, no. 7, pp. 1020-1033.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2022.04.013

Swidergall, M, Khalaji, M, Solis, NV, Moyes, D, Drummond, R, Hube, B, Lionakis, MS, Murdoch, C, Filler, SG & Naglik, JR 2019, 'Candidalysin is required for neutrophil recruitment and virulence during systemic candida albicans infection', The Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 220, no. 9, pp. 1477–1488. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiz322

Drummond, RA, Swamydas, M, Oikonomou, V, Zhai, B, Dambuza, IM, Schaefer, BC, Bohrer, AC, Mayer-barber, KD, Lira, SA, Iwakura, Y, Filler, SG, Brown, GD, Hube, B, Naglik, JR, Hohl, TM & Lionakis, MS 2019, 'CARD9⁺ Microglia Orchestrate Antifungal Immunity via IL-1β and CXCL1-mediated Neutrophil Recruitment', Nature Immunology, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 559–570. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-019-0377-2

Drummond, RA & Lionakis, MS 2018, 'Candidiasis of the central nervous system in neonates and children with primary immunodeficiencies', Current Fungal Infection Reports, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 92-97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12281-018-0316-y

Letter

Drummond, RA, Zahra, FT, Natarajan, M, Swamydas, M, Hsu, AP, Wheat, LJ, Gavino, C, Vinh, DC, Holland, SM, Mikelis, CM & Lionakis, MS 2018, 'GM-CSF therapy in human caspase recruitment domain–containing protein 9 deficiency', Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, vol. 142, no. 4, pp. 1334-1338.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2018.05.025

Preprint

Lecky, DAJ, Sheriff, L, Rouvray, ST, George, LS, Drummond, RA, Wraith, DC & Bending, D 2024 'Interferon-γ and IL-27 positively regulate type 1 regulatory T-cell development during adaptive tolerance' bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.06.21.598825

Review article

Alselami, A & Drummond, RA 2023, 'How metals fuel fungal virulence, yet promote anti-fungal immunity', Disease Models & Mechanisms, vol. 16, no. 10, dmm050393. https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.050393

Lionakis, MS, Drummond, RA & Hohl, TM 2023, 'Immune responses to human fungal pathogens and therapeutic prospects', Nature Reviews Immunology, vol. 23, pp. 433–452. <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-022-00826-w>

Drummond, RA 2023, 'What fungal CNS infections can teach us about neuroimmunology and CNS-specific immunity', Seminars in Immunology, vol. 67, 101751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smim.2023.101751

Fu, MS & Drummond, RA 2020, 'The Diverse Roles of Monocytes in Cryptococcosis', Journal of Fungi, vol. 6, no. 3, 111, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof6030111

Clark, C & Drummond, R 2019, 'The hidden cost of modern medical interventions: how medical advances have shaped the prevalence of human fungal disease', Pathogens, vol. 8, no. 2, 45, pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens8020045

View all publications in research portal