Dr Rebecca Dearman - personal details

Independent Research Fellow inToxicology (Immunology Grouping), Faculty of Life Sciences

My first degree was Biochemistry (BSc 1st Class; 1980-1984) at Bath University, followed by a PhD in Immunochemistry at Southampton University with Professor George Stevenson focused on developing methods to enhance targetting and destruction of tumour (leukemia) cells by antibody. In 1988 I began my first Post Doc position at the ICI Central Toxicology Laboratory (CTL) at Alderley Edge (funded by Unilever) investigating the immunological mechanisms of allergic reactions caused by chemicals. Although CTL was an industrial laboratory, it had a very academic approach and commitment to basic research and as the company evolved from ICI, to Zeneca, to AstraZeneca and finally to Syngenta, I remained, expanding my role from Post Doc to Head of Immunology with a continued interest in mechanisms of allergic responses. With the closure of CTL, in October 2007 I relocated to the University of Manchester to join a new Toxicology grouping with continued interests in chemical and protein allergy, dendritic cell biology and inflammatory diseases.

In 2003 I was awarded "Young Investigator of the Year" by the Immunotoxicology Specialty Section of the Society for Toxicology and in 2004 I became a member of the Department of Health Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. I am on the editorial board of the journals "Food and Chemical Toxicology", "Toxicological Sciences" and "Biomarkers".