David Blackbourn

Background

About David Blackbourn

I'm an entrepreneurial professor, higher education leader and qualified executive coach. I'm currently Head of the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Aberdeen and Professor of Virology. I offer executive coaching services that take advantage of my considerable academic and entrepreneurial experience. I worked for many years in the USA on various aspects of virology and immunology and became an independent investigator and academic in at the University of Glasgow. I've since worked at the Universities of Glasgow, Birmingham, Surrey and now Aberdeen. I'm one of three Editors-in-Chief for FEMS Microbiology Reviews, a sector-leading journal which publishes invited comprehensive and authoritative reviews on all aspects of microbiology. In 2015 I co-founded Ducentis Biotherapeutics to develop an anti-inflammatory Fc fusion protein to treat human diseases caused by a hyperactive immune system. We were acquired by Arcutis Biotherapeutics in 2022. In 2022 I co-founded another biotech company this time to develop a novel intervention for high blood pressure (hypertension). I'm currently participating in the Innovate UK-funded ICURe research commercialisation programme to accelerate investment in our anti-hypertensive development. Please get in touch if either I can help you with executive coaching, or if you can contribute to our hypertension project.