Inaugural lecture of Professor Andy Baker

Head of Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Gustav Born Chair of Vascular Biology

Blood vessels supply essential nutrients and oxygen to the entire body. Different forms of injury to the blood vessels result in a variety of conditions. Many of these lack effective therapies and represent important areas of unmet clinical need. Examples include damage to both large vessels (such as the failure of bypass grafts) and small vessels (such as pulmonary hypertension). 

My research has evolved around improving our knowledge of the molecular and cellular events that drive damage to these blood vessels coupled with interventional strategies to attempt to beneficially modify blood vessels to prevent and reverse the effects of injury. Those approaches include gene, cell and rna-based therapies in cells in culture, in mouse models, large animals and patients.

In my lecture, I will highlight these approaches and how I propose to beneficially modify the blood vessels in patients with cardiovascular disease.