Prof John Cleland, University of Glasgow

Prof Ewa Jankowska, Wraclaw Medical School

Prof Piotr Ponikowski, Wraclaw Medical School

Prof Paul Leeson, University of Oxford

Prof Domenico Girelli, University of Verona

Prof Stefan Piechnik, University of Oxford

Prof Vanessa Ferreira, University of Oxford

Prof Keith Channon, University of Oxford

Prof Lars Gullestad, University of Oslo

Prof Pal Aukrust, University of Oslo

Prof Thor Ueland, University of Oslo

Prof Philip Kalra, University of Manchester

Prof Paul Kalra, University of Portsmouth

Prof Hal Drakesmith, University of Oxford

Prof Jemma Hopewell, University of Oxford

Prof Michael Desborough, University of Oxford

Prof Julio Nunez, University of Valencia

RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS

I am a translational scientist. My focus is the role of iron in physiology and pathophysiology.  

I completed a DPhil in Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford in 2007, then joined the laboratory of Sir Prof Peter Ratcliffe as a postdoctoral researcher.  There, I investigated the interplay between Hypoxia Inducible Factors (HIFs) and iron homeostasis. My research findings defined the molecular mechanisms underlying this interplay, e.g. I discovered that TMPRSS6 and GDF15, known regulators of the iron homeostatic hormone hepcidin, are both responsive to hypoxia. I also collaborated with clinician scientists to uncover how hepcidin is regulated by hypoxia at altitude. 

In 2013, I secured a BHF Intermediate Research Fellowship and became an independent principal investigator. At the time,  iron research pivoted on one of two axes; the cellular axis, controlled by iron regulatory proteins (IRPs), and the whole-body (systemic) axis, controlled by ferroportin in the gut and spleen, and by its antagonist hormone hepcidin. During my BHF fellowship, I discovered that many cell types use ferroportin and hepcidin to finetune intracellular iron levels, thus revealing the crosstalk between the cellular and systemic axes of iron regulation. I defined the molecular mechanisms of this crosstalk and demonstrated its fundamental importance for the function of the heart (PNAS, 2015; eLife, 2016), the pulmonary vasculature (PNAS, 2019), the liver (Blood, 2020), the kidney (Kidney Int, 2021), and the systemic vasculature (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 2023), and collaborated with others to discover a similar mechanism in immune cells (J Innate Immunity, 2016), retinal cells (Exp Eye Res, 2019), gut mucosa (J Clin Invest, 2019; Science, 2020), and colorectal cancer (Nat Metab, 2021).  These discoveries are important because they provide a long-sought mechanism for why factors that perturb the systemic iron axis, e.g. inflammation, hypoxia, pregnancy also perturb the physiological functioning of certain organ systems.

 In 2021, I  secured a £2m Senior Research Fellowship from the Medical Research Council (MRC). The aim of this fellowship is to build on the discoveries I made during the BHF Fellowship, in order to enhance our underatsnding of the clinical consequences of iron deficiency and to change clinical practice on iron supplementation, especially in patients with heart failure. My team and I have already mapped many of the basic discoveries onto actionable clinical targets, e.g.  Nature Reviews Cardiology 2024, European Heart Journal 2025,. European Heart Journal 2024, Br J of Haem 2025, Eur J of Heart Failure 2025, and Medrxiv. 

To find out more about my team's work, please visit my team's webpage. 

I have secured ~£7 million in research funding, including ~£3.5 million as principal investigator. As of August 2025, the cumulative impact factor of my publications is 744, including 545 as leading or senior author.

RESEARCH LEADERSHIP

• Member of the Medical Research Council Experimental Medicine Panel
• Member of the Royal Society Research Grants Committee: Biological Science
• Member UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) Interdisciplinary Assessment College
• Board of Directors of the International BioIron Society
• Steering Committee and mechanistic lead for FRAIL-ID clinical trial “effect of intravenous versus oral iron supplementation on physical performance in iron deficient FRAIL elderly IndiviDuals with cardiovascular disease” lead by Prof Ewa Jankowska
• Steering Committee and mechanistic lead for INFERRCT clinical trial “Effect of INtravenous FERRic Carboxymaltose on morTality and Cardiovascular Morbidity, and Quality of Life in Iron Deficient Patients With Recent Myocardial infarction” lead by Prof Piotr Ponikowski
• International expert panel for PANDA: Prevention of Anaemia in Pregnancy

SELECTED PRIZES AND AWARDS

Fellowship of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC)

Physiological Society’s  Bayliss-Starling Prize Lecture

Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute Sheila Glennis Howarth Prize Lecture

Award of the title of “Associate Professor”, Oxford University

The BioIron Society’s Gunshin Levy Award for contributions to advancing iron  research

Best Oral Presentation, European Iron Club Meeting, Innsbruck

TEACHING

I am a tutorial fellow for Medicine at Brasenose College Oxford. Here:

• I teach preclinical students on Principles of Physiology, Applied Physiology and Pharmacology, and Biochemistry and Medical Genetics
• I lead admissions for Medicine

I also deliver tutorials and lectures at Divisional levels on various components of the preclinical medicine course.

SUPERVISION

Graduate supervision

Commenced 2024, Poppy Buckley , MSc Part C Project in Biomedical Sciences

Commenced 2023, Yee Lim, DPhil in Physiology

Commenced 2022, Charlotte Ball, DPhil Chemistry in Cells

Commenced 2022 , Zenpeng Cao, DPhil in Inorganic Chemistry   

Commenced 2021, Aksel Saukko-Paavola, DPhil in Physiology            

Completed 2022 , Sinaida Chirubin, DPhil in Population Health    

Completed 2020, Paul Loick, Erasmus MSc Research studentship      

Completed 2019, Lara Kammerer, Erasmus MSc Research studentship      

Completed 2018, YuJin Chung,  DPhil in Physiology     

FHS research project supervision (3^rd year Preclinical Medicine and Biomedical Sciences)

2023           Poppy Buckley

2022           Yee Lim

2021           Ella Smith

2020           Alison Carrington

2017           Mark Brookes

2016           Aimee Jacquemot

2015           Greg Young

2015           Sanya Kurmani

2014           Ben Reinders