Professor Foo Yew Liew

Professor Foo Yew Liew is Gardiner Professor of Immunology at the University of Glasgow. He is also the Director of the Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science.

He obtained his BSc degree in Chemistry from the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and a PhD in Immunology from the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra.

In the early 70s, Professor Liew made a seminar contribution to the concept of the heterogeneity of CD4+ T cells by demonstrating that CD4+ T cells mediating delayed-type hypersensitivity and those helping antibody synthesis are distinct. This finding laid the foundation for the current understanding of Th1 and Th2 cells.

He went on to pioneer the research on the immune response to Leishmaniasis by demonstrating that there are two distinct populations of CD4+ T cells provoked by the infection: one host protective, the other disease promoting. These cell types turned out to be the prototype of Th1 and Th2 cells, respectively.

In 1995, Professor Liew's laboratory was one of the first to demonstrate that inducible nitric oxide was essential for the host protection against intracellular infection. Moreover, they showed that over production of nitric oxide could be responsible for the pathology of a range of autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and system lupus erythematosus (SLE).

More recently, Professor Liew's team demonstrated that Interleukin 15 and 18 are closely associated with the pathogenesis of RA and SLE. This opens up the possibility of therapeutic intervention in a range of inflammatory diseases.

Contact details
Professor Foo Yew Liew
Division of Immunology
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
E-mail: fyl1h@clinmed.gla.ac.uk
Web: www.gla.ac.uk/departments/immunology/people/liew.htm

Biographical information correct as at November 2003.