Gauldie is best known as a scientist for discovering how immune signalling molecules called ‘cytokines’ like Interleukin 6 affect people’s responses to infections, auto-immune diseases and chronic conditions including cancer.

When researching pulmonary fibrosis in the 1980s, Gauldie discovered how cytokines drove the development of scar tissue in the lungs, details that helped lead the pharmaceutical industry to develop two new treatments. He published more than 400 scientific articles.