Dr Iris Mair

Biography

I obtained a BSc in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Wuerzburg, Germany followed by an MSc by Research also in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. After a temporary R&D position at Novartis, Switzerland, I completed my PhD in 2016 at the University of Edinburgh with Steve Anderton, investigating regulatory T cell function in inflammatory disease using laboratory mouse models. In my first postdoctoral position in Richard Mellanby’s lab, also at the University of Edinburgh, I investigated tolerance mechanisms through which dendritic cells modulate potentially autopathogenic T cells.
In order to gain a more holistic understanding of the factors shaping the immune system, I took up my second postdoctoral position at the University of Manchester with Kathryn Else, to study the drivers of immune variation in a wild, free-living house mouse population. Through this post and a NERC Discipline Hopping Award in 2022 with geographer Angela Harris and ecologist Susanne Shultz, I have been able to establish myself in the interdisciplinary research area of ecoimmunology, which complements traditional laboratory research, veterinary and human studies, as well as conservation research. I have recently been awarded a Wellcome and University of Manchester EDI Perera Fellowship.

Memberships of committees and professional bodies

• SBS Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee
• British Society for Immunology
• British Ecological Society
• British Society for Parasitology