Dr Gillian Tomlinson

BSc (Hons), MBChB, FRCP, PhD

Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health

Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine

Honorary Consultant in Respiratory Medicine

gillian.tomlinson@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 215 9557

Room LU115, L Floor, The Medical School

Full contact details

Dr Gillian Tomlinson
Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health
Room LU115, L Floor
The Medical School
Beech Hill Road
Sheffield
S10 2RX

Profile

For enquiries please contact - SMPH-West-Operational@sheffield.ac.uk

I joined the University of Sheffield as a Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine in 2024. I also undertake clinical duties as a consultant in Respiratory Medicine and Acute Medicine, with a specialist interest in respiratory infection, particularly tuberculosis (TB) and interstitial lung disease.

I hold a medical degree from Edinburgh University and undertook postgraduate training in general medicine in Glasgow and London. I began my specialist training in respiratory medicine in Glasgow. I subsequently undertook a Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Research Training Fellowship using genome wide molecular profiling to understand inflammatory processes in respiratory disease, leading to the award of a PhD in Immunology at University College London. I then extended my expertise in transcriptional profiling to tissue samples from the site of disease within my NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer post at UCL. This work led to discovery and validation of clinically translatable signatures with the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy and patient stratification in diagnostically ambiguous cases of mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

After completing my specialist respiratory training in London, I worked as a consultant respiratory physician in Glasgow, before returning to UCL with an MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship. I integrated a human in vivo mycobacterial challenge model with genetic manipulation of zebrafish larvae for mechanistic studies, to investigate immune correlates of disease severity in pulmonary TB. My work identified a potential host protective role for type I interferon responses in mycobacterial infection, with applications for risk-stratification of adverse outcomes and development of a novel host-directed therapy to mitigate against severe disease.

I also recently led a collaborative project funded by my NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre Grant, to compare single-cell transcriptomic and T cell receptor profiles of bronchoalveolar cells from individuals with post-COVID radiological lung inflammation or fibrosis. Our findings implicate T cell driven immunopathology in post-COVID lung disease.

Qualifications

FRCP
CCT Respiratory medicine and general medicine
PhD Immunology
MRCP (UK)
MBChB
BSc (Hons) Pathology

Research interests

I have an established track record in research focused on understanding the immune correlates of protection and pathogenesis in respiratory infection and inflammation, particularly tuberculosis (TB). Ultimately my work aims to identify immune pathways that could be targeted for novel host-directed therapies to mitigate against the chronic sequelae of tissue injury and against anti-microbial resistance, stratify individuals likely to benefit from such interventions and inform design and evaluation of new vaccines.

I combine transcriptomic profiling of immune responses from human challenge and clinical samples, with genetic manipulation of zebrafish larval bacterial and sterile inflammation models to improve understanding of how to generate host responses that protect without immune-mediated pathology.

I pioneered transcriptomic profiling of biopsies from the site of the tuberculin skin test (TST) for comprehensive systems and molecular level interrogation of integrated innate and adaptive immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. My MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship integrated my human in vivo mycobacterial challenge model, as a surrogate for immune responses to M. tuberculosis in the lung, with mechanistic studies in the zebrafish larval Mycobacterium marinum infection model, to investigate immune correlates of disease severity in pulmonary TB. The zebrafish mycobacterial infection model provides a natural host-pathogen interaction with granulomatous inflammation consistent with human TB. Zebrafish larvae are genetically tractable, which allows me to manipulate levels of genes to be tested, and optically transparent, enabling visualisation of bacterial growth and cellular responses to infection. This work identified type I interferon responses as host protective in mycobacterial infection, with implications for adjunctive type I interferon therapy to mitigate against severe disease in people with pulmonary TB

Publications

Show: Featured publications All publications

Featured publications

Journal articles

Hammond FR, Lewis A, Pollara G, Tomlinson GS, Noursadeghi M, Kiss-Toth E & Elks PM (2024) Tribbles1 is host protective during in vivo mycobacterial infection. eLife, 13. View this article in WRRO
Chandran A, Rosenheim J, Nageswaran G, Swadling L, Pollara G, Gupta RK, Burton AR, Guerra-Assunção JA, Woolston A, Ronel T , Pade C et al (2022) Rapid synchronous type 1 IFN and virus-specific T cell responses characterize first wave non-severe SARS-CoV-2 infections. Cell Reports Medicine, 3(3), 100557-100557.
Pollara G, Turner CT, Rosenheim J, Chandran A, Bell LCK, Khan A, Patel A, Peralta LF, Folino A, Akarca A , Venturini C et al (2021) Exaggerated IL-17A activity in human in vivo recall responses discriminates active tuberculosis from latent infection and cured disease. Science Translational Medicine, 13(592).
Mandal S, Barnett J, Brill SE, Brown JS, Denneny EK, Hare SS, Heightman M, Hillman TE, Jacob J, Jarvis HC , Lipman MCI et al (2021) ‘Long-COVID’: a cross-sectional study of persisting symptoms, biomarker and imaging abnormalities following hospitalisation for COVID-19. Thorax, 76(4), 396-398.
Stirling DR, Suleyman O, Gil E, Elks PM, Torraca V, Noursadeghi M & Tomlinson GS (2020) Analysis tools to quantify dissemination of pathology in zebrafish larvae. Scientific Reports, 10(1). View this article in WRRO
Tomlinson GS, Thomas N, Chain BM, Best K, Simpson N, Hardavella G, Brown J, Bhowmik A, Navani N, Janes SM , Miller RF et al (2016) Transcriptional Profiling of Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Lymph Node Samples Aids Diagnosis of Mediastinal Lymphadenopathy. Chest, 149(2), 535-544.
Tomlinson G, Chimalapati S, Pollard T, Lapp T, Cohen J, Camberlein E, Stafford S, Periselneris J, Aldridge C, Vollmer W , Picard C et al (2014) TLR-Mediated Inflammatory Responses to Streptococcus pneumoniae Are Highly Dependent on Surface Expression of Bacterial Lipoproteins. The Journal of Immunology, 193(7), 3736-3745.
Tomlinson GS, Bell LCK, Walker NF, Tsang J, Brown JS, Breen R, Lipman M, Katz DR, Miller RF, Chain BM , Elkington PTG et al (2014) HIV-1 Infection of Macrophages Dysregulates Innate Immune Responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Inhibition of Interleukin-10. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 209(7), 1055-1065.
Tomlinson GS, Cashmore TJ, Elkington PTG, Yates J, Lehloenya RJ, Tsang J, Brown M, Miller RF, Dheda K, Katz DR , Chain BM et al (2011) Transcriptional profiling of innate and adaptive human immune responses to mycobacteria in the tuberculin skin test. European Journal of Immunology, 41(11), 3253-3260.
Mehta P, Sanz-Magallón Duque de Estrada B, Denneny EK, Foster K, Turner CT, Mayer A, Milighetti M, Platé M, Worlock KB, Yoshida M , Brown JS et al () Single-cell analysis of bronchoalveolar cells in inflammatory and fibrotic post-COVID lung disease. Frontiers in Immunology, 15.
Torraca V, Kaforou M, Watson J, Duggan GM, Guerrero-Gutierrez H, Krokowski S, Hollinshead M, Clarke TB, Mostowy RJ, Tomlinson GS , Sancho-Shimizu V et al () Shigella sonnei infection of zebrafish reveals that O-antigen mediates neutrophil tolerance and dysentery incidence. PLOS Pathogens, 15(12), e1008006-e1008006.
Bell LCK, Pollara G, Pascoe M, Tomlinson GS, Lehloenya RJ, Roe J, Meldau R, Miller RF, Ramsay A, Chain BM , Dheda K et al () In Vivo Molecular Dissection of the Effects of HIV-1 in Active Tuberculosis. PLOS Pathogens, 12(3), e1005469-e1005469.
Jarvis JN, Meintjes G, Bicanic T, Buffa V, Hogan L, Mo S, Tomlinson G, Kropf P, Noursadeghi M & Harrison TS () Cerebrospinal Fluid Cytokine Profiles Predict Risk of Early Mortality and Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome in HIV-Associated Cryptococcal Meningitis. PLOS Pathogens, 11(4), e1004754-e1004754.
Tomlinson GS, Booth H, Petit SJ, Potton E, Towers GJ, Miller RF, Chain BM & Noursadeghi M () Adherent Human Alveolar Macrophages Exhibit a Transient Pro-Inflammatory Profile That Confounds Responses to Innate Immune Stimulation. PLoS ONE, 7(6), e40348-e40348.

Preprints

Szydlo-Shein A, Sanz-Magallón Duque de Estrada B, Rosenheim J, Turner CT, Tsaliki E, Lipman MCI, Kunst H, Pollara G, Elks PM, Levraud J-P , Payne EM et al (2024) Type I interferon responses contribute to immune protection against mycobacterial infection, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

All publications

Journal articles

Hammond FR, Lewis A, Pollara G, Tomlinson GS, Noursadeghi M, Kiss-Toth E & Elks PM (2024) Tribbles1 is host protective during in vivo mycobacterial infection. eLife, 13. View this article in WRRO
Periselneris J, Turner CT, Ercoli G, Szylar G, Weight CM, Thurston T, Whelan M, Tomlinson G, Noursadeghi M & Brown J (2022) Pneumolysin suppresses the initial macrophage pro‐inflammatory response to Streptococcus pneumoniae. Immunology, 167(3), 413-427.
Chandran A, Rosenheim J, Nageswaran G, Swadling L, Pollara G, Gupta RK, Burton AR, Guerra-Assunção JA, Woolston A, Ronel T , Pade C et al (2022) Rapid synchronous type 1 IFN and virus-specific T cell responses characterize first wave non-severe SARS-CoV-2 infections. Cell Reports Medicine, 3(3), 100557-100557.
Pollara G, Turner CT, Rosenheim J, Chandran A, Bell LCK, Khan A, Patel A, Peralta LF, Folino A, Akarca A , Venturini C et al (2021) Exaggerated IL-17A activity in human in vivo recall responses discriminates active tuberculosis from latent infection and cured disease. Science Translational Medicine, 13(592).
Mandal S, Barnett J, Brill SE, Brown JS, Denneny EK, Hare SS, Heightman M, Hillman TE, Jacob J, Jarvis HC , Lipman MCI et al (2021) ‘Long-COVID’: a cross-sectional study of persisting symptoms, biomarker and imaging abnormalities following hospitalisation for COVID-19. Thorax, 76(4), 396-398.
Stirling DR, Suleyman O, Gil E, Elks PM, Torraca V, Noursadeghi M & Tomlinson GS (2020) Analysis tools to quantify dissemination of pathology in zebrafish larvae. Scientific Reports, 10(1). View this article in WRRO
Periselneris J, Ercoli G, Pollard T, Chimalapati S, Camberlein E, Szylar G, Hyams C, Tomlinson G, Petersen FC, Floto RA , Noursadeghi M et al (2019) Relative Contributions of Extracellular and Internalized Bacteria to Early Macrophage Proinflammatory Responses to Streptococcus pneumoniae. mBio, 10(5).
Tomlinson GS, Thomas N, Chain BM, Best K, Simpson N, Hardavella G, Brown J, Bhowmik A, Navani N, Janes SM , Miller RF et al (2016) Transcriptional Profiling of Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Lymph Node Samples Aids Diagnosis of Mediastinal Lymphadenopathy. Chest, 149(2), 535-544.
Periselneris J, Chimalapati S, Tomlinson G, Dyson A, Hyams C, Rukke H, Peterson F, Singer M, Noursadeghi M & Brown J (2014) S86 The Inflammatory Response To Streptococcus Pneumoniae Is Exaggerated By The Polysaccharide Capsule. Thorax, 69(Suppl 2), A47-A47.
Tomlinson G, Chimalapati S, Pollard T, Lapp T, Cohen J, Camberlein E, Stafford S, Periselneris J, Aldridge C, Vollmer W , Picard C et al (2014) TLR-Mediated Inflammatory Responses to Streptococcus pneumoniae Are Highly Dependent on Surface Expression of Bacterial Lipoproteins. The Journal of Immunology, 193(7), 3736-3745.
Tomlinson GS, Bell LCK, Walker NF, Tsang J, Brown JS, Breen R, Lipman M, Katz DR, Miller RF, Chain BM , Elkington PTG et al (2014) HIV-1 Infection of Macrophages Dysregulates Innate Immune Responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Inhibition of Interleukin-10. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 209(7), 1055-1065.
Tomlinson GS, Hardavella G, Brown J, Succony L, Navani N, Thomas N, Chain BM, Janes SM & Noursadeghi M (2013) S36 Differentiation of tuberculosis and sarcoidosis by transcriptional profiling of immune responses in mediastinal lymph node samples. Thorax, 68(Suppl 3), A21.1-A21.
Tomlinson GS, Elkington PTG, Bell L, Walker NF, Tsang J, Brown J, Breen R, Lipman M, Katz DR, Miller RF , Chain BM et al (2011) S130 HIV-1 infection of macrophages dysregulates pro-inflammatory host responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis through inhibition of interleukin 10. Thorax, 66(Suppl 4), A59-A60.
Tomlinson GS, Cashmore TJ, Elkington PTG, Yates J, Lehloenya RJ, Tsang J, Brown M, Miller RF, Dheda K, Katz DR , Chain BM et al (2011) Transcriptional profiling of innate and adaptive human immune responses to mycobacteria in the tuberculin skin test. European Journal of Immunology, 41(11), 3253-3260.
Tomlinson GS, Elkington PTG & Noursadeghi M (2010) S1 HIV-1 infection of macrophages modulates host responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis to contribute to immunopathogenesis and viral propagation. Thorax, 65(Suppl 4), A4-A4.
Tomlinson GS, Khandavilli S, Cohen J, Hyams C, Brown J & Noursadeghi M (2010) S78 Determinants of macrophage responses to Streptococcus pneumoniae. Thorax, 65(Suppl 4), A37-A37.
Anderson CE, Tomlinson GS, Pauly B, Brannan FW, Chiswick A, Brack‐Werner R, Simmonds P & Bell JE (2003) Relationship of Nef‐positive and GFAP‐reactive astrocytes to drug use in early and late HIV infection. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 29(4), 378-388.
Tomlinson , Simmonds , Busuttil , Chiswick & Bell (1999) Upregulation of microglia in drug users with and without pre‐symptomatic HIV infection. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 25(5), 369-379.
Wyatt JP, Tomlinson GS & Busuttil A (1999) Resuscitation of drowning victims in south-east Scotland. Resuscitation, 41(2), 101-104.
Tomlinson GS, Cole CH & Smith NM (1999) Bilateral wilms’ tumor: a clinicopathologic review. Pathology, 31(1), 12-16.
Mehta P, Sanz-Magallón Duque de Estrada B, Denneny EK, Foster K, Turner CT, Mayer A, Milighetti M, Platé M, Worlock KB, Yoshida M , Brown JS et al () Single-cell analysis of bronchoalveolar cells in inflammatory and fibrotic post-COVID lung disease. Frontiers in Immunology, 15.
Torraca V, Kaforou M, Watson J, Duggan GM, Guerrero-Gutierrez H, Krokowski S, Hollinshead M, Clarke TB, Mostowy RJ, Tomlinson GS , Sancho-Shimizu V et al () Shigella sonnei infection of zebrafish reveals that O-antigen mediates neutrophil tolerance and dysentery incidence. PLOS Pathogens, 15(12), e1008006-e1008006.
Gupta-Wright A, Tomlinson GS, Rangaka MX & Fletcher HA () World TB Day 2018: The Challenge of Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. F1000Research, 7, 217-217.
Bell LCK, Pollara G, Pascoe M, Tomlinson GS, Lehloenya RJ, Roe J, Meldau R, Miller RF, Ramsay A, Chain BM , Dheda K et al () In Vivo Molecular Dissection of the Effects of HIV-1 in Active Tuberculosis. PLOS Pathogens, 12(3), e1005469-e1005469.
Jarvis JN, Meintjes G, Bicanic T, Buffa V, Hogan L, Mo S, Tomlinson G, Kropf P, Noursadeghi M & Harrison TS () Cerebrospinal Fluid Cytokine Profiles Predict Risk of Early Mortality and Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome in HIV-Associated Cryptococcal Meningitis. PLOS Pathogens, 11(4), e1004754-e1004754.
Tomlinson GS, Booth H, Petit SJ, Potton E, Towers GJ, Miller RF, Chain BM & Noursadeghi M () Adherent Human Alveolar Macrophages Exhibit a Transient Pro-Inflammatory Profile That Confounds Responses to Innate Immune Stimulation. PLoS ONE, 7(6), e40348-e40348.

Conference proceedings papers

Mehta P, Duque de Estrada BS-M, Denneny E, Foster K, Turner C, Meyer A, Milighetti M, Worlock K, Yoshida M, Brown J , Nikolic M et al (2023) S84 Single-cell landscape of bronchoalveolar cells in inflammatory and fibrotic post-COVID residual lung abnormalities. ‘Bad blood’ – Biomarkers and mechanisms in long COVID (pp A61-A61)
Mehta P, De Estrada BS-MD, Denneny E, Foster K, Turner C, Mayer A, Milighetti M, Plate M, Worlock K, Yoshida M , Brown J et al (2023) Late Breaking Abstract - Single-cell landscape of bronchoalveolar cells in inflammatory and fibrotic post-COVID residual lung abnormalities. Mechanisms of lung injury and repair (pp OA1566-OA1566)
Periselneris J, Chimalapati S, Tomlinson G, Hyams C, Dyson A, Noursadeghi M & Brown J (2015) LSC Abstract – The inflammatory response to streptococcus pneumoniae is exaggerated by the polysaccharide capsule. 10.1 Respiratory Infections (pp PA2672-PA2672)
Heightman M, Tomlinson G, Booth H, Laurent G, McAnulty R & Hill M (2009) TIMP3 Promoter Polymorphism Associates with Sarcoidosis in UK Black Afro-Caribbeans.. D21. GENETICS OF AIRWAY DISEASES II (pp A5425-A5425)
Tomlinson GS, Young LM, Heightman MJ, Booth H, Laurent GJ, McAnulty RJ & Hill MR (2009) A PTGS2 Haplotype Involving -765G>C and a Novel Promoter Polymorphism -2619A>G Associates with Sarcoid in UK Blacks.. D21. GENETICS OF AIRWAY DISEASES II (pp A5439-A5439)

Preprints

Turner CT, Rosenheim J, Thakker C, Chandran A, Wilson H, Venturini C, Pollara G, Chain BM, Tomlinson GS & Noursadeghi M (2024) Single-cell transcriptome and T cell receptor profiling of the tuberculin skin test, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Szydlo-Shein A, Sanz-Magallón Duque de Estrada B, Rosenheim J, Turner CT, Tsaliki E, Lipman MCI, Kunst H, Pollara G, Elks PM, Levraud J-P , Payne EM et al (2024) Type I interferon responses contribute to immune protection against mycobacterial infection, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Hammond FR, Lewis A, Pollara G, Tomlinson GS, Noursadeghi M, Kiss-Toth E & Elks PM (2023) Tribbles1 and Cop1 cooperate to protect the host duringin vivomycobacterial infection, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Mehta P, Sanz-Magallón Duque de Estrada B, Denneny EK, Foster K, Turner CT, Mayer A, Milighetti M, Platé M, Worlock KB, Yoshida M , Brown JS et al (2023) Single-cell analysis of bronchoalveolar cells in inflammatory and fibrotic post-COVID lung disease, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Chandran A, Rosenheim J, Nageswaran G, Swadling L, Pollara G, Gupta RK, Guerra-Assuncao JA, Woolston A, Ronel T, Pade C , Gibbons J et al (2021) Non-severe SARS-CoV-2 infection is characterised by very early T cell proliferation independent of type 1 interferon responses and distinct from other acute respiratory viruses, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Torraca V, Kaforou M, Watson J, Duggan GM, Guerrero-Gutierrez H, Krokowski S, Hollinshead M, Clarke TB, Mostowy RJ, Tomlinson GS , Sancho-Shimizu V et al (2019) Shigella sonneiinfection of zebrafish reveals that O-antigen mediates neutrophil tolerance and dysentery incidence, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Stirling DR, Suleyman O, Gil E, Elks PM, Torraca V, Noursadeghi M & Tomlinson GS (2019) Analysis tools to quantify dissemination of pathology in zebrafish larvae, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Pollara G, Turner CT, Tomlinson GS, Bell LCK, Khan A, Peralta LF, Folino A, Akarca A, Venturini C, Baker T , Ricciardolo FLM et al (2019) Exaggerated in vivo IL-17 responses discriminate recall responses in active TB, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Grants

Medical Research Council Clinician Scientist Fellowship (2016-2024)
Tuning the immune response in tuberculosis

NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre Inflammation, Immunity and Immunotherapeutics Theme (2020-2022)
Immune pathogenesis of post-COVID-19 lung disease

Teaching interests: I have previously used my expertise in respiratory infection and immunology to lecture on Immunology Masters and undergraduate courses to deliver researcher-led teaching

Professional activities and memberships

British Thoracic Society member.
British Society for Immunology member.
European Respiratory Society member.
Peer reviewer of manuscripts and grants.