OpenLearn Profile

Richard Jurd

Richard Jurd

Department of Life, Health & Chemical Sciences

Professional biography
Dr Richard Jurd is an associate lecturer in The Open University and is senior lecturer and senior tutor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Essex. Dr Richard Jurd read Zoology at the University of Cambridge as an undergraduate and then researched for a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Southampton, working on haemoglobins in amphibians.He then moved into immunological research, studying immunotherapeutic models for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia at Southampton University Medical School. Since 1975, he has been on the academic staff of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Essex near Colchester.His research interests lie in the fields of the evolution of immunity in fishes, amphibians and reptiles, and in changes during ageing in mammalian immune responses.He teaches zoology, animal physiology and immunology, with a particular emphasis on evolutionary aspects of these topics.Richard has been an Associate Lecturer for the Open University since 1976, tutoring for many courses in biology and also teaching at residential schools.