Lesley Smyth

Dr. Lesley Smyth is an Associate Professor of Immunology at the School of Medicine and Biosciences, University of West London. With over 30 years of research experience and 50+ publications, her work focuses on immune regulation, transplantation tolerance, and extracellular vesicle biology. She has held academic roles at King’s College London, University College London, and the National Institute for Medical Research.

Education:

• BSc Immunology, University of Glasgow
• PhD in Immunological Tolerance (Edinburgh University)

Research Interests: Dr. Smyth’s research investigates mechanisms of immune tolerance, including roles of tolerogenic dendritic cells, regulatory T cells, and extracellular vesicles in prolonging transplant survival. She discovered antigen spread via professional antigen-presenting cells during viral infections and demonstrated immune modulatory properties of regulatory T cell-derived EVs. Her work bridges transplantation medicine and viral immunology.

Teaching & Supervision: Module lead for Clinical Immunology, Immunology and Immunotherapy, and Infection and Immunity. Supervised numerous undergraduate and postgraduate research projects.

Professional Roles: Review editor for Frontiers in Inflammation, reviewer for Nature Communications and American Journal of Transplantation, board member and treasurer of the UK Extracellular Vesicle (UKEV) Society.