Rosemary Boyton

Rosemary Jane Boyton is a British immunologist who is Head of Lung Immunology and Adult Infectious Disease at Imperial College London. She works on the molecular immunology of infectious, allergic and autoimmune inflammation. She holds an honorary consultant position at the Royal Brompton Hospital, where she specialises in lung infection.

Early life and education Boyton trained in medicine at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and gained a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB BS) degree. She served as a junior doctor in various London hospitals, including the Royal Brompton Hospital, Guy's Hospital and the Hammersmith Hospital. After training in respiratory medicine, infectious diseases and general medicine, Boyton was awarded a Wellcome Trust research fellowship to complete a PhD at Imperial College London where she studied the mechanisms that underpin T helper cell responses. In allergic asthma, lung inflammation is caused by a CD4 T cell that attacks otherwise harmless allergens. This attack can trigger an immune reaction which damages bodily tissue. Boyton has studied how the body responds to pollen, in an effort to improve treatment for people who suffer from hayfever.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Boyton studied the requirements for countries to move out of lockdown. As of late April 2020, around one third of the world's population was under lockdown. Boyton explained that to begin to reopen countries, there should be investment in increased testing, immune status return-to-work permits and contact tracing.

Selected publications