Professor Catherine Lawrence

Professor Lawrence is part of the Stroke and Dementia Theme and currently lectures in the Division of Neuroscience at the University of Manchester. Her academic journey began at Manchester where she earned a BSc in Pharmacology and a PhD under the supervision of Professor Nancy Rothwell. Her doctoral research focused on the impact of pro-inflammatory cytokines on neuronal injury, sparking an interest in neuroinflammation. 

Following her PhD, Catherine spent over two years in the pharmaceutical industry as a Clinical Research Associate, gaining valuable insights into clinical trials and drug development. She returned to academia with a postdoctoral position funded by AstraZeneca, working with Professor Simon Luckman to explore novel neuropeptides and energy homeostasis. 

Her career has since bridged both academic and industry settings. In 2004, she joined AstraZeneca as a Senior Research Scientist, before returning to the University of Manchester in as an RCUK Fellow. She was appointed Lecturer in 2010, Senior Lecturer in 2015, and now Professor in Neuroscience.  

Professor Lawrence’s current research centres on stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and vascular dementia, with a particular focus on the role of inflammation and co-morbidities. Her group is investigating how these conditions influence the onset and severity of brain diseases, especially in older adults. 

Professor Matt Hepworth 

Professor Hepworth began his academic journey with a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology at the University of Manchester, which included an industrial placement at the Mayo Clinic in the USA. He went on to complete a PhD under Professor Richard Grencis, focusing on immunity to intestinal helminth infections, laying the groundwork for his expertise in mucosal immunology. 

His postdoctoral training took him to the Humboldt University in Berlin, where he worked with Susanne Hartmann, and later to the University of Pennsylvania and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. There, in the lab of Gregory Sonnenberg, he contributed to the rapidly evolving field of Innate Lymphoid Cell (ILC) biology, identifying novel roles for ILCs in regulating intestinal inflammation, particularly in the context of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). 

In 2016, Professor Hepworth returned to Manchester as a Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellow, establishing an independent research group focused on the innate immune pathways that maintain tissue health and regulate inflammation in the gut and lungs. His work bridges basic and translational science, aiming to identify new therapeutic targets for chronic inflammatory diseases such as IBD and asthma. In addition his lab is investigating the interplay between the immune system and diet, metabolism, extracellular matrix, and the nervous system in health and chronic inflammatory diseases. 

Congratulations to Catherine and Matt on their professorships – well deserved recognition for their contributions to research in their fields. 

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