DPhil Supervisor Profile

Gill Group – Development of Gene Therapy and Gene Editing for Lung Disorders

Deborah Gill is based in the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where she is Professor of Gene Medicine, Co-Director of the Gene Medicine Research Group and Head of the Nuffield Division of Clinical Laboratory Sciences within the Radcliffe Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford.

Deborah completed her PhD in molecular microbiology at the University of Warwick, studying cell division proteins in E.coli, during which she discovered the  defining bacterial member of the ABC (ATP-Binding Cassette) superfamily of proteins. Deborah then moved to the University of Oxford, to undertake post-doctoral research at the Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine, investigating human ABC proteins including the Multi-Drug Resistance p-glycoprotein and CFTR, the protein responsible for Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Deborah's research then began to focus on the potential of gene therapy for genetic diseases, developing a potential treatment for Cystic Fibrosis lung disease, and resulting in multiple clinical trials demonstrating proof of principle for CF gene therapy.

Deborah was a founding member of the UK CF Gene Therapy Consortium in 2001, a consortium of scientists and clinicians that continues to work toward making gene therapy a reality for patients with CF. Since the success of gene therapy ultimately depends on efficient delivery of genetic material to human cells, Deborah's research team has focused on the development of new viral and non-viral gene transfer vectors for translation of  gene therapies to the clinic. In addition to targeting genetic diseases in the lung  (such as Surfactant-Deficiencies) Deborah's research team is evaluating whether the airways can be used as a "protein factory" to make therapeutic proteins and antibodies.