Rate My Professor Jemma Mayall

Dr. Jemma Mayall is a Lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy within the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She is also a researcher in the Immune Health Program at the Hunter Medical Research Institute, with her office located in Room HMRI3413 at the John Hunter Hospital site. Mayall holds a Doctor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences (Honours), and Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences, all from the University of Newcastle. Her research investigates the role of innate immune responses in infections of the respiratory and reproductive tracts to determine how these responses can be manipulated to prevent and treat associated diseases. This encompasses infections of the female reproductive tract leading to chronic conditions such as pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain, and infertility, exemplified by asymptomatic Chlamydia infections causing prolonged inflammatory responses mediated by the innate immune system. In the respiratory tract, infections like influenza induce inflammatory responses in the lung, with severe cases resulting in cytokine storms. Her work identifies novel mechanisms of inflammatory diseases in both tracts, focusing on newly discovered innate immune factors and signaling pathways to boost protective responses and reduce infection and inflammation. Fields of research include innate immunity (50%), cellular immunology (30%), and infectious diseases (20%). She contributes to projects such as advanced lung function tests for early detection of respiratory diseases in coal mine workers, including Forced Oscillation Technique, Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide testing, and breath analysis biomarkers.

Mayall has been awarded the 2025 TSANZ/National Asthma Council Australia Asthma and Airways Career Development Fellowship as lead investigator ($60,000), the 2016 ICI Travel Award from the Australasian Society for Immunology, and the 2015 ASI Travel Award. Key publications include 'Female sex hormones and the oral contraceptive pill modulate asthma severity through GLUT-1' (Mucosal Immunology, 2025), 'Interferon-epsilon is a novel regulator of NK cell responses in the uterus' (EMBO Molecular Medicine, 2024), 'Antiviral Responses of Tissue-resident CD49a+ Lung Natural Killer Cells Are Dysregulated in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease' (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2023), 'Critical role for iron accumulation in the pathogenesis of fibrotic lung disease' (Journal of Pathology, 2020), 'Crucial role for lung iron level and regulation in the pathogenesis and severity of asthma' (European Respiratory Journal, 2020), 'Role for NLRP3 inflammasome–mediated, IL-1β–dependent responses in severe, steroid-resistant asthma' (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2017), and 'Mechanisms and treatments for severe, steroid-resistant allergic airway disease and asthma' (Immunological Reviews, 2017). These contributions advance understanding of immune dysregulation in respiratory and reproductive diseases.