Prof Andrew Devitt

Chair in Inflammatory Cell Biology

Head of Biomedical & Biological Sciences

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology

Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science

Director of Research for the Cell & Tissue Biomedical Research Group

School of Life and Health Sciences
Aston University
Aston Triangle
Birmingham
B4 7ET
UK

email: [email protected]
tel: +44 (0) 121 204 4165
fax: +44 (0) 121 204 4187
Book an appointment here

We welcome enquiries from PhD-qualified researchers from all countries outside the UK wishing to apply for a European Commission-funded Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to come to work with us at Aston. Subject areas might include inflammation, extracellular vesicles, cell death and the regulation of innate immune responses. Please contact Andrew Devitt for further details.

Research Group

Cell & Tissue Biomedical Research

Research Centre

Member of the Aston Research Centre for Healthy Ageing

Member of the Biology and Pharmacy Teaching Programmes

UK Centre for Bioscience Representative

Tweets by @DrDevitt

Research Interests

Apoptotic cell-derived extracellular vesicles (ACdEV) – structure/function relationships

Molecular mechanisms underlying recognition and clearance of apoptotic cell and pathogens

Monocyte and macrophage biology and innate immunity

Monocytes and macrophages in ageing and cardiovascular disease

Apoptosis & Identification of apoptotic cells
Extracellular vesicles (EV) – understanding the molecular mechanisms of tissue homeostasis and repair.

Projects and Funding

2016 – 2019	Refining an in vitro system of predictive biomarkers of in vivo liposome efficacy. Nc3Rs £90,000.
2015 – 2019	Secretome of canine mesenchymal stem cells. BBSRC iCASE £90,000. Co-I with Dr WEB Johnson.
2018	Towards defining the functional surface of EV in dementia. Alzheimer’s Research UK £70,000.
2015 – 2018	How death influences life: Unlocking the apoptotic cell-derived extracellular vesicle (acdEV) and linking composition to immune function. BBSRC responsive mode grant: £555,823). Collaborative grant with co-Is Dr Sam Griffiths-Jones (Manchester); Profs Griffiths & Perrie (Aston) and Prof Charles Serhan (Harvard Medical School, Boston, US).
2014 - 2018	A2D: attracted to death -understanding how extracellular vesicles interact with the immune system. BBSRC iCASE £94,126.
2013 – 2014	Towards an in vitro system of predictive biomarkers of in vivo liposome efficacy. Nc3Rs £74,625.
2013	Drawn towards death – understanding this morbid fascination. British Society for Cell Biology: Studentship.
2012	Characterisation of transglutaminase-2 activity on human macrophages and its role in chemoattraction to apoptotic bodies released during cell death. Wellcome Trust Studentship.
2009 - 2012	Evaluation of monocyte/macrophage function throughout the ageing process. BBSRC Targeted Priority Studentship.

2009 – 2012	Analysis of the role of transglutaminase 2 in a macrophage function. Aston University Bursary Scheme.
2008 – 2011	Characterisation of the innate immune system in the clearance of apoptotic cells. Aston University Studentship.
2007 - 2010	Investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying the role of ICAM-3 in the phagocytic clearance of apoptotic leukocytes. BBSRC Research Grant £444,088.
2009	Characterisation of the molecular constitution of apoptotic bodies released during cell death and their role in macrophage chemoattraction. Biochemical Society Studentship.
2009	A versatile stem cell model of Alzheimer's disease. Co-applicant with Prof. Coleman, Dr. Eric Hill and Dr Ann Vernallis

Recent Publications

Clayton, A, Buschmann, D, Byrd, JB, Carter, DRF, Cheng, L, Compton, C, Daaboul, G, Devitt, A, Falcon-Perez, JM, Gardiner, C, Gustafson, D, Harrison, P, Helmbrecht, C, Hendrix, A, Hill, A, Hoffman, A, Jones, JC, Kalluri, R, Kang, JY, Kirchner, B, Lässer, C, Lawson, C, Lenassi, M, Levin, C, Llorente, A, Martens-Uzunova, ES, Möller, A, Musante, L, Ochiya, T, Pink, RC, Tahara, H, Wauben, MHM, Webber, JP, Welsh, JA, Witwer, KW, Yin, H & Nieuwland, R 2018, 'Summary of the ISEV workshop on extracellular vesicles as disease biomarkers, held in Birmingham, UK, during December 2017' Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, vol. 7, no. 1, 1473707. DOI:10.1080/20013078.2018.1473707
Remtulla, AH , Dias, IH , Milic, I , Devitt, A & Griffiths, HR 2018, 'Protein sulphenic acid formation during CD4 + T cell activation' Free Radical Biology and Medicine, vol. 120, no. Suppl 1, pp. S120. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2018.04.396
Devitt, A, Griffiths?, HR & Milic, I 2018, 'Communicating with the dead: lipids, lipid mediators and extracellular vesicle' Biochemical Society Transactions. DOI:10.1042/BST20160477
Dias, HK , Milic, I, Lip, GYH, Polidori, MC, Devitt, A & Griffiths, HR 2018, 'Simvastatin reduces circulating oxysterol levels in men with hypercholesterolemia' Redox biology. DOI:10.1016/j.redox.2018.02.014
Carter, DRF, Clayton, A, Devitt, A, Hunt, S & Lambert, DW 2018, 'Extracellular vesicles in the tumour microenvironment' Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 373, no. 1737, 20160475. DOI:10.1098/rstb.2016.0475
Ramirez, MI, Amorim, MG, Gadelha, C, Milic, I, Welsh, JA, Freitas, VM, Nawaz, M, Akbar, N, Couch, Y, Makin, L, Cooke, F, Vettore, AL, Batista, PX, Freezor, R, Pezuk, JA, Rosa-Fernandes, L, Carreira, ACO, Devitt, A, Jacobs, L, Silva, IT, Coakley, G, Nunes, DN, Carter, D, Palmisano, G & Dias-Neto, E 2017, 'Technical challenges of working with extracellular vesicles' Nanoscale, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 881-906. DOI:10.1039/c7nr08360b
Ademowo, OS , Dias, HKI , Milic, I , Devitt, A, Moran, R, Mulcahy, R, Howard, AN, Nolan, JM & Griffiths, HR 2017, 'Phospholipid oxidation and carotenoid supplementation in Alzheimer’s disease patients' Free Radical Biology and Medicine, vol. 108, pp. 77-85. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2017.03.008
Castro, SA, Collighan, R , Lambert, PA, Dias, HHK, Chauhan, P, Bland, CE, Milic, I, Millward, MR, Cooper, PR & Devitt, A 2017, 'Porphyromonas gingivalis gingipains cause defective macrophage migration towards apoptotic cells and inhibit phagocytosis of primary apoptotic neutrophils: gingipains, apoptotic cell removal & inflammation' Cell Death and Disease, vol. 8, no. 3, e2644. DOI:10.1038/cddis.2016.481
Dias, IH , Milic, I , Devitt, A , Spickett, CM , Pitt, AR & Griffiths, HR 2016, 'Mass spectrometry based method for measurement of oxysterols' pp. S27. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2016.04.183
Nguyen, DB, Thuy Ly, TB, Wesseling, MC, Hittinger, M, Torge, A, Devitt, A , Perrie, Y & Bernhardt, I 2016, 'Characterization of microvesicles released from human red blood cells' Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 1085-1099. DOI:10.1159/000443059
Perrie, Y , Crofts, F , Devitt, A , Griffiths, HR, Kastner, E & Nadella, V 2016, 'Designing liposomal adjuvants for the next generation of vaccines' Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, vol. 99, no. Part A, pp. 85-96. DOI:10.1016/j.addr.2015.11.005
Pararasa, C, Ikwuobe, J, Shigdar, S, Boukouvalas, A, Nabney, IT , Brown, JE , Devitt, A , Bailey, CJ, Bennett, SJ & Griffiths, HR 2016, 'Age-associated changes in long-chain fatty acid profile during healthy aging promote pro-inflammatory monocyte polarization via PPAR?' Aging Cell, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 128-139. DOI:10.1111/acel.12416
Pararasa, C, Ikwuobe, J, Shigdar, S, Boukouvalas, A, Nabney, IT , Brown, JE , Devitt, A , Bailey, CJ, Bennett, SJ & Griffiths, HR 2016, 'Age-associated changes in long-chain fatty acid profile during healthy aging promote pro-inflammatory monocyte polarization via PPAR?' Aging Cell, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 128-139,10.1111/acel.12416
Nadella, V , Wang, Z, Johnson, TS, Griffin, M & Devitt, A 2015, 'Transglutaminase 2 interacts with syndecan-4 and CD44 at the surface of human macrophages to promote removal of apoptotic cells' BBA - Molecular Cell Research, vol. 1853, no. 1, pp. 201-212. DOI:10.1016/j.bbamcr.2014.09.020
Marshall, LJ, Oguejiofor, W, Willetts, RS , Griffiths, HR & Devitt, A 2015, 'Developing accurate models of the human airways' Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, vol. 67, no. 3, pp. 464-472. DOI:10.1111/jphp.12340
Chimonides, GF, Behrendt, JM, Chundoo, E, Bland, C, Hine, AV , Devitt, A , Nagel, DA & Sutherland, AJ 2014, 'Cellular uptake of ribonuclease A-functionalised core-shell silica microspheres' Journal of Materials Chemistry B, vol. 2, no. 42, pp. 7307-7315. DOI:10.1039/C4TB01130A
Kilari, RS, Perry, CJ, Devitt, A, Safrany, ST & Nicholl, ID 2014, 'Aspirin and aspirin analogs on esophageal cancer' Cancer Research, vol. 74, no. 19 Supplement, Abstract 2527. DOI:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2527
Nagel, D, Behrendt, JM, Chimonides, GF, Torr, EE, Devitt, A , Sutherland, AJ & Hine, AV 2014, 'Polymeric microspheres as protein transduction reagents' Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 1543-1551. DOI:10.1074/mcp.O113.034900
Griffiths, HR , Dias, I , Willetts, RS & Devitt, A 2014, 'Redox regulation of protein damage in plasma' Redox biology, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 430-435. DOI:10.1016/j.redox.2014.01.010
Kaur, R, Henriksen-Lacey, M, Wilkhu, J , Devitt, A , Christensen, D & Perrie, Y 2014, ' Effect of incorporating cholesterol into DDA:TDB liposomal adjuvants on Bilayer properties, biodistribution, and immune responses ' Molecular pharmaceutics , vol 11, no. 1, pp. 197-207., 10.1021/mp400372j
Kaur, R, Henriksen-Lacey, M, Wilkhu, J, Devitt, A, Christensen, D & Perrie, Y 2014, 'Effect of incorporating cholesterol into DDA:TDB liposomal adjuvants on Bilayer properties, biodistribution, and immune responses' Molecular Pharmaceutics, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 197-207. DOI:10.1021/mp400372j
Alghareeb, K, Nadella, V, Bland, CE & Devitt, A 2014, 'Characterisation of ICAM-3 and extracellular vesicles in the clearance of apoptotic cells' British Society for Immunology (BSI) annual congress, Brighton, United Kingdom,1/12/14 -4/12/14 , .
Hawkins, L, Alghareeb, K, Nadella, V, Chauhan, P, Bland, CE & Devitt, A 2014, 'Physical and functional characterisation of apoptotic cell-derived extracellular vesicles' British Society for Immunology (BSI) annual congress, Brighton, United Kingdom,1/12/14 -4/12/14 , .
Hawkins, LA & Devitt, A 2013, 'Current understanding of the mechanisms for clearance of apoptotic cells-a fine balance' Journal of Cell Death, vol. 6, no. 3932, pp. 57-68. DOI:10.4137/JCD.S11037
Ghattas, A, Griffiths, HR , Devitt, A, Lip, GYH & Shantsila, E 2013, 'Monocytes in coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis: where are we now?' Journal of the American College of Cardiology, vol. 62, no. 17, pp. 1541-1551. DOI:10.1016/j.jacc.2013.07.043
Thomas, L, Bielemeier, A, Lambert, PA, Darveau, RP, Marshall, LJ & Devitt, A 2013, 'The N-terminus of CD14 acts to bind apoptotic cells and confers rapid-tethering capabilities on non-myeloid cells: CD14 and rapid tethering of apoptotic cells' PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 7, e0070691. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0070691
Tennant, I, Pound, JD, Marr, LA, Willems, JJLP, Petrova, S, Ford, CA, Paterson, M, Devitt, A & Gregory, CD 2013, 'Innate recognition of apoptotic cells: novel apoptotic cell-associated molecular patterns revealed by crossreactivity of anti-LPS antibodies' Cell Death and Differentiation, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 698-708. DOI:10.1038/cdd.2012.165
Ghattas, A, Shantsila, E, Devitt, A , Griffiths, H & Lip, GYL 2013, 'Monocyte subpopulation counts and TNF alpha associations with clinical outcome post ST elevation myocardial infarction' Heart, vol. 99, no. Suppl.2, 243, pp. A129-A130. DOI:10.1136/heartjnl-2013-304019.243
Hill, E , Nagel, D, O' Neil, J, Torr, L, Woehrling, E , Devitt, A & Coleman, M 2013, 'Effects of lithium and valproic acid on gene expression and phenotypic markers in an NT2 neurosphere model of neural development' PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 3, e58822. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0058822
Leslie, LJ , Marshall, LJ , Devitt, A, Hilton, A & Tansley, GD 2013, 'Cell exclusion in couette flow: evaluation through flow visualisation and mechanical forces' Artificial Organs, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 267-275. DOI:10.1111/j.1525-1594.2012.01561.x
Nadella, V, Wang, V, Griffin, M & Devitt, A 2012, 'Characterization of tissue transglutaminase 2 in macrophage function' EMBO Conference on Cellular Signaling & Molecular Medicine, Cavtat, Dubrovnik, Croatia,25/05/12 -29/05/12 , .
Torr, EE, Gardner, DH, Thomas, L, Goodall, DM, Bielemeier, A, Willetts, R , Griffiths, HR , Marshall, LJ & Devitt, A 2012, 'Apoptotic cell-derived ICAM-3 promotes both macrophage chemoattraction to and tethering of apoptotic cells' Cell Death and Differentiation, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 671-679. DOI:10.1038/cdd.2011.167
Nadella, V, Wang, V, Griffin, M & Devitt, A 2012, 'Characterization of tissue transglutaminase 2 in macrophage function' British Society for Research on Ageing, Birmingham, United Kingdom,2/07/12 -4/07/12 , pp. 74.
Hawkins, L, Griffiths, H & Devitt, A 2012, 'Dealing with cell death – an ageing problem?' British Society for Research on Ageing, Birmingham, United Kingdom,2/07/12 -4/07/12 , pp. 59.
Henriksen-Lacey, M, Devitt, A & Perrie, Y 2011, 'The vesicle size of DDA: TDB liposomal adjuvants plays a role in the cell-mediated immune response but has no significant effect on antibody production' Journal of Controlled Release, vol. 154, no. 2, pp. 131-137. DOI:10.1016/j.jconrel.2011.05.019
Devitt, A & Marshall, L 2011, 'The innate immune system and the clearance of apoptotic cells' Journal of Leukocyte Biology, vol. 90, no. 3, pp. 447-457. DOI:10.1189/jlb.0211095
Nadella, V, Wang, Z, Griffin, M & Devitt, A 2011, 'Analysis of Transglutaminase-2 in Macrophage function' Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Matrix Research Conference 2011 , Manchester, United Kingdom,5/09/11 -7/09/11 , .
Torr, EE, Thomas, L, Gardner, DH, Bielemeier, A & Devitt, A 2011, 'Apoptotic cell-derived ICAM-3 promotes both macrophage chemoattraction to and tethering of apoptotic cells' Apoptotic Cell Recognition & Clearance Gordon-Kenan Research Seminar/ Apoptotic Cell Recognition & Clearance Gordon Research Conference , Lewiston , United States,16/07/11 -17/07/11 , .
Torr, EE, Thomas, L, Gardner, DH & Devitt, A 2010, 'Apoptotic? cell-associated ?ICAM-3 ?in ?the ?phagocytic ?removal ?of ?apoptotic ?cells?' 2010 British Society for Immunology Annual Congress, Liverpool, United Kingdom,6/12/10 -10/12/10 , .
Hawkins, L, Griffiths, H & Devitt, A 2010, 'Modelling Apoptotic cell clearance within the atherosclerotic plaque' 2010 British Society for Immunology Annual Congress, Liverpool, United Kingdom,6/12/10 -10/12/10 , .
Nadella, V, Griffin, M & Devitt, A 2010, 'Analysis of Transglutaminase-2 in macrophage function' 2010 British Society for Immunology Annual Congress, Liverpool, United Kingdom,6/12/10 -10/12/10 , . DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2567.2010.03391.x
Thomas, L, Lambert, P , Marshall, L & Devitt, A 2010, 'CD14 and innate immune clearance of apoptotic cells' British Society of Immunology Annual Congress , Liverpool, United Kingdom,6/12/10 -10/12/10 , .
Devitt, A 2010,Therapeutic Methods, Patent No. GB 1016864.9, IPC No. C07K16/28.
Pamukcu, B, Lip, GYH, Devitt, A , Griffiths, H & Shantsila, E 2010, 'The role of monocytes in atherosclerotic coronary artery disease' Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 394-403. DOI:10.3109/07853890.2010.497767
Shantsila, E, Devitt, A & Lip, GYH 2010, 'Circulating monocytes and atherogenesis: from animal experiments to human studies' Thrombosis and Haemostasis, vol. 104, no. 2, pp. 191-193. DOI:10.1160/TH10-03-0176
Thomas, L, Lambert, P & Devitt, A 2010, 'The innate immune system and the clearance of apoptotic cells' Society for Leukocyte Biology/International Endotoxin & Innate Immunity Society , Vancouver, Canada,7/10/10 -9/10/10 , .
Torr, EE, Thomas, L, Gardner, DH, Bielemeier, A & Devitt, A 2010, 'Apoptotic cell-derived ICAM-3 promotes both macrophage chemoattraction to and tethering of apoptotic cells' Annual meeting of the Society for leukocyte biology & The International Endotoxin and Innate Immunity Society, Vancouver, Canada,7/10/10 -9/10/10 , .
Henriksen-Lacey, M, Christensen, D, Agger, EM, Andersen, P, Devitt, A & Perrie, Y 2010, 'Cationic liposomes as adjuvants for subunit protein vaccines: their role in the depot effect and antigen processing by APCs' 11th International Symposium on Dendritic Cells in fundamental and Clinical Immunology - DC2010:Forum on Vaccine Science, Lugano, Switzerland,26/09/10 -30/09/10 , .
Gregory, CD, Pound, JD, Devitt, A, Wilson-Jones, M, Ray, P & Murray, RJ 2009, 'Inhibitory effects of persistent apoptotic cells on monoclonal antibody production in vitro: simple removal of non-viable cells improves antibody productivity by hybridoma cells in culture' MAbs, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 370-376. DOI:10.4161/mabs.1.4.9124
Torr, EE, Bielemeier, A, Marshall, L & Devitt, A 2008, 'Apoptotic cell-associated ICAM-3 in the phagocytic removal of apoptotic cells' .