London, England, United Kingdom
Professor John Greenwood is the Hugh Davson Professor of Biomedical Research at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London. He obtained his PhD from the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London following a study of transport systems of the blood-brain barrier. After a postdoctoral fellowship at King’s College London, he was awarded the Renee Hock Fellowship at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London to study the blood-retinal barrier in retinal inflammatory disease. He has also developed an interest in the biology underpinning angiogenesis and vascular remodelling. In 1993 he was made Senior Lecturer at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and in 2000 Full Professor. His research staff occupies state-of-the-art laboratories in the Henry Wellcome Building for Translational Eye Research. The role of the vascular barriers of the brain and retina during inflammation remain a major focus of his research. Specifically, his work has focussed on angiogenesis and vascular remodelling in diseases such as neovascular age related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cancer, chronic kidney disease and lung disease. His discovery that the secreted glycoprotein LRG1 is a major vasculopathic factor (published in Nature 2013) led to the formation in 2019 of a UCL spin-out company PanAngium Therapeutics. As the extent of LRG1 involvement in the pathogenic process has now been shown to extend beyond the vasculature the company has now rebranded as Senya Therapeutics to reflect its pleiotropic activity. A therapeutic antibody has been developed and translation into the clinic in various indications is expected over the next few years. John is a Co-Founding Scientist and Chief Scientific Officer of Senya Therapeutics (https://senyatx.com). Seed investor and Innovate UK funding was obtained in 2024 with Series A funding anticipated in Q4 2026 focussing on kidney disease. Other target indications are also being pursued including cancer, ocular disease, IBD and lung disease. Specialties: Vascular and endothelial cell biology, retina, brain, inflammation, leukocyte migration, angiogenesis, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal pigment epithelium, multiple sclerosis, cancer.