Dr Kylie Belchamber PhD

• Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education, 2023
• PhD in Immunology, University of Surrey, 2013
• BSc (Hons) Pharmacology, University of Portsmouth, 2008

Dr Kylie Belchamber studied Pharmacology at the University of Portsmouth, gaining an interest in immunology. She then pursued a PhD at the University of Surrey, where she studied the role of extracellular ATP as a danger signal in human blood and lung derived dendritic cells. This collaboration with GSK allowed her to gain industry experience during her PhD.

Kylie then moved to the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London, where she undertook postdoctoral work studying the phenotype and function of macrophages in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. This expanded her research interests towards a desire to understand why the immune system becomes dysfunctional in age-related disease, and in how immune cells interact to drive this process.

In 2019, Kylie joined the Acute Care Research Group at the University of Birmingham to undertake a post-doctoral fellowship funded by the Alpha-1 foundation, studying macrophage and neutrophil function in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD). She has since developed her research interests into two core themes:

1. The role of innate immunity in healthy ageing, and in age-related diseases

2. The role of maternal placental macrophages in pregnancy, and pregnancy complications

In 2024, Kylie moved to the University of Manchester, where she is a Lecturer in Maternal and Fetal Health, focusing on researching placental immunology. She retains close ties with the Acute Care Research Group at the University of Birmingham, where she holds an honorary senior research fellowship.

Kylie supervises laboratory-based research projects for several MSc programmes.

Kylie has supervised 1 PhD student to completion, and currently supervises 2 doctoral students.

Kylie is interested in supervising doctoral research students who are interested in the field of innate immunology in ageing, respiratory disease and pregnancy. If you are interesting in studying any of these subject areas please contact Dr Kylie Belchamber directly. 

Kylie’s research focuses on the role of macrophages in the pathogenesis of healthy ageing and age-related disease. She works closely with other members of the Acute Care Research Group to study immune-related disease; with the Respiratory Microbiome Group to study host:pathogen interactions; and with the Womens Metabolic Health BRC theme to study the immunology of pregnancy.

Current projects

1. The function of monocytes and macrophages in AATD and COPD.
2. The role of monocytes and macrophages in healthy ageing and frailty.
3. The role of decidual macrophages in healthy pregnancy and pregnancy complications (preterm birth and preeclampsia).

Roles

• Secretary for the British Association for Lung Research (BALR)
  
• Associate Editor ‘Frontiers for Young Minds: Health’ 2020 - 2022

Membership of Scientific Societies

• European Respiratory Society (ERS)
• British Association for Lung Research (BALR)
• British Immunological Society (BSI)

Public outreach

• Wellcome Trust – I’m a scientist get me out of here! 2016
• Heart and Lung Repair Shop, NHLI, Imperial College 2014, 2015