Professor David Oliveira - Professor of Renal Medicine (MD., F.R.C.P.)

Professor David Oliveira studied medicine at Cambridge University as well as Westminster Hospital Medical School where he qualified in 1979. Following five years in a variety of hospital medical jobs (with an emphasis on renal medicine) he completed a PhD in cellular immunology as an MRC Training Fellow at University College London.

In 1995, Professor Oliveira was appointed Foundation Professor of Renal Medicine/Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at St. George's University of London. In 2001 he was appointed Dean for Research & Development, also at St George's University of London, and Director of Research & Development for St George's Healthcare NHS Trust. Since June 2007 he has relinquished his Research & Development posts in order to become Course Director for the new combined MBBS course at St George's University of London. Professor Oliveira has also held a position as a Non-executive Director of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust since December 2005.

His clinical research interests include trials of immunosuppressants (phase I and II work with Sirolimus in Cambridge, phase III work at St George's) and other aspects of treatment in renal medicine. Experimental research focuses on drug-induced autoimmunity, and the role and mechanisms of mast cell and Th2 cell activation in this process.

Some of Professor Oliveira's most important peer-reviewed publications include:

Oliveira DBG, Blackwell N, Virchis AE, Axelrod RA. T helper and T suppressor cells are restricted by the A and E molecules, respectively, in the F antigen system. Immunogenetics 1985; 22: 169-75.

Oliveira DBG, Nardi NB. Immune suppression genes control the anti-F antigen response in F1 hybrids and recombinant inbred sets of mice. Immunogenetics 1987; 26: 359-365.

Mathieson PW, Cobbold SP, Hale G, Clark MJ, Oliveira DBG, Lockwood CM, Waldmann H. Monoclonal antibody therapy in systemic vasculitis. N Engl J Med 1990; 323: 250-254.

Schofield JP, Vijayakumar RK, Oliveira DBG. Sequences of the mouse F protein alleles and identification of a T cell epitope. Eur J Immunol 1991; 21: 1235-1240.

Esnault VLM, Mathieson PW, Thiru S, Oliveira DBG, Lockwood CM. Autoantibodies to myeloperoxidase in Brown Norway rats treated with mercuric chloride. Lab Invest 1992; 67: 114-120.

Mathieson PW, Thiru S, Oliveira DBG. Mercuric chloride-treated Brown Norway rats develop widespread tissue injury including necrotizing vasculitis. Lab Invest 1992; 67: 121-129.

Mathieson PW, Thiru S, Oliveira DBG. Regulatory role of OX22+ T cells in mercury-induced autoimmunity in the Brown Norway rat. J Exp Med 1993; 177: 1309-1316.

Mathieson PW, Wurzner R, Oliveira DBG, Lachmann PJ, Peters DK.Complement-mediated adipocyte lysis by nephritic factor sera. J Exp Med 1993; 177: 1827-1831.

Zhang L, Jayne DRW, Zhao MH, Lockwood CM, Oliveira DBG. The distribution of MHC class II alleles in primary systemic vasculitis. Kidney Int 1995; 47: 294-298.

Oliveira DBG, Gillespie K, Wolfreys K, Mathieson PW, Qasim F, Coleman JW. Compounds that induce autoimmunity in the Brown Norway rat sensitize mast cells for mediator release and IL-4 expression. Eur J Immunol 1995; 25: 2259-2264.

Kiely PDW, Gillespie KM, Oliveira DBG. Oxpentifylline inhibits tumour necrosis factor?mRNA transcription and protects against arthritis in the mercuric chloride-treated Brown Norway rat. Eur J Immunol 1995; 25: 2899-2906.

Wolfreys K, Oliveira DBG. Alterations in intracellular reactive oxygen species generation and redox potential modulate mast cell function. Eur J Immunol 1997; 27: 297-306.

Kiely PDW, Pecht I, Oliveira DBG. Mercuric chloride-induced vasculitis in the Brown Norway rat: ab T-cell dependent and -independent phases: role of the mast cell. J Immunol 1997; 159: 5100-5106.

Oliveira DBG. Membranous nephropathy: an IgG4 mediated disease. Lancet 1998; 351: 670-671.

Wu Z, Turner DR, Oliveira DBG. Interleukin (IL)-4 gene expression upregulated by mercury in rat mast cells: a role of oxidant stress in IL-4 transcription. Int Immunol 2001; 13: 297-304.

Wu Z, MacPhee IAM, Oliveira DBG. Reactive oxygen species in the initiation of IL-4 driven autoimmunity as a potential therapeutic target. Curr Pharm Des 2004; 10: 899-913.

Vinen CS, Turner DR, Oliveira DBG. A role for ?? T cells in the resistant phase of the Brown Norway rat model of vasculitis. Clin Exp Immunol 2005; 140: 32-40.