David Abraham

David Abraham is a Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at University College London (UCL), Faculty of Medical Sciences, specializing in inflammation research. He serves as the head of the research department of Inflammation and Director of the Centre for Rheumatology and Connective Tissue Diseases (Scleroderma, Systemic sclerosis) at UCL's Royal Free Campus. Additionally, he holds adjunct and honorary professorships at Xi'an Jiaotong University (since 2013) and Aarhus University (since 2022), respectively.

• FRSB (Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology) (2011)
• FRCP (Hon) from Royal College of Physicians (2021)
• Adjunct Professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University (2013-present)
• Honorary Professor at Aarhus University (2022-present)

Professor Abraham's research focuses on connective tissue diseases, particularly scleroderma and systemic sclerosis. His work spans five major areas: biomarkers for disease including autoantibody profiles; novel pro-inflammatory and fibrotic mediators; the origins of fibroblasts and myofibroblast differentiation; molecular genetics of disease sub-sets; and development and study of pre-clinical models. His laboratory maintains extensive patient sample banks including serum, plasma, tissue, cell lines, and nucleic acids from over 4,000 patients.

His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on macrophage biology in systemic sclerosis, sex-specific differences in disease manifestation, multi-omic approaches to understanding disease progression, and novel therapeutic targets including PD-1 pathway engagement and LAG-3 signaling. His work consistently bridges basic science with clinical applications.

• Senior Research Fellow - ARC (2024)
• FRCP (Hon) from Royal College of Physicians (2022)
• FRSB (Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology) (2011)

As an educator, Professor Abraham teaches in the Applied Medical Sciences BSc program (Molecular Basis of Human Disease), Human Tissue Repair MSc (Principles of Inflammation), and Drug Discovery MSc (Advances in therapeutics for Inflammation and autoimmune diseases). He has led the 'Molecular Basis of Disease' module for second-year undergraduate students since 2016.

His research laboratory focuses on understanding basic disease mechanisms in connective tissue disease and fibrosis, utilizing both inflammatory and non-inflammatory driven animal models affecting multiple organ systems. His work has successfully translated several therapeutic targets (Endothelin, PDGF, TGFbeta and IL-6) into clinical trials through industrial collaborations.