Led by Dr Alison Heather

The Gene Regulation Group aims to discover how damaged genes contribute to the development of heart disease.

DNA holds all the information necessary for the normal functioning of cells within our body. DNA contains genes that act as the blueprints or instructions to build cells. They also signal and instruct cells to perform their functions. However, genes can become damaged and the information they supply is made faulty which causes cells to stop working properly and leads to disease.

The group is dedicated to unravelling the molecular pathways in the cells that are key players in heart disease. These cells include those that line blood vessel walls and inflammatory cells that migrate into damaged blood vessels. The group is primarily interested in discovering how damaged genes lead to early atherosclerotic plaque development in blood vessels.

They do this by employing a host of cutting-edge technologies including gene silencing, gene array, proteomics and histology methods to define the role of newly discovered genes in human and experimental heart disease plaques.

Current Projects

Studies investigating sex hormone influences on heart disease.

Studies investigating the underlying molecular mechanisms that link diabetic kidney disease to heart disease.