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. 

RESEARCH LEADERSHIP

 BHF Clinical Fellowships Panel

Medical Research Council Experimental Medicine Panel

Royal Society Research Grants Committee: Biological Science

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

Membership of the Academia Europaea (MAE)

Fellowship of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC)

Physiological Society’s  Bayliss-Starling Prize Lecture

Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute Sheila Glennis Howarth Prize Lecture

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

TEACHING

I am a tutorial fellow for Medicine at Brasenose College Oxford. You can find out more about my teachinf role here Professor Samira Lakhal-Littleton – Brasenose College