ProfessorLouise Donnelly

Louise Donnelly is Professor of Respiratory Cell Biology, within the Section of Airway Disease at the NHLI. She obtained her BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Bath and subsequently a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Cardiff. This was followed by a post-doctoral position in cell signaling at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School (now part of Imperial College London) prior to working at the NHLI.

Since 1995, Professor Donnelly has worked in the field of respiratory cell biology with a particular interest in the cellular profile in inflammatory lung diseases including asthma and COPD. Her research has focussed upon how inflammatory cells are altered in the disease state and the investigation of novel therapeutic strategies. To this end, she has established a number of human primary cell systems to investigate mechanisms of aberrant inflammation and cellular senescence. She has published extensively and has presented both nationally and internationally and is currently a Deputy Editor for the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. T

Professor Donnelly is currently Director of the iBSc in Translational Respiratory Medicine and is involved in respiratory teaching on the undergraduate MBSS course. In 2009, Professor Donnelly received a Rector's Award for Research Supervision and in 2012 a Rector's Award for Pastoral Care. Since September 2020, she is the Director of Education (Taught) for the NHLI and Chair of the Postgraduate Education Board for the Faculty of Medicine.

Professor Donnelly has been a member of the British Association of Lung Research (BALR) committee for several years and is a past chair of the BALR. She has served on the British Lung Foundation Scientific Committee and previously as the European Respiratory Society Fellowship and Awards Director.