Research
Laboratory research interests
- Culture of human kidney cells (podocytes and endothelial cells which play important roles in the filtering function of the kidney), aiming to understand the ways in which these cells work, what goes wrong in disease, and the ways in which steroids and other drugs work.
- Cytokines, important chemical mediators in the immune system, and the genes which control them
- Transplants of pancreatic islets, the cells which produce insulin, as a potential cure for diabetes mellitus.
Clinical research includes design and conduct of clinical trials
Professor Mathieson is the national coordinator of one major trial funded by the Medical Research Council, in which three different therapeutic approaches for an important form of kidney disease called membranous glomerulonephritis are being compared. He is also member and immediate past-chairman of the Clinical Trials Subcommittee of the UK Renal Association.
Recent research grant income
Since 2000, grants from Medical Research Council, National Kidney Research Fund, Wellcome Trust, Berkeley Fellowship, Bristol Area Kidney Patients Association, Southmead Research Foundation and Starfish Trust totaling around £1,750,000.