Contact details:

m.j.caulfield@qmul.ac.uk

Mark Caulfield graduated in Medicine in 1984 from the London Hospital Medical College and trained in Clinical Pharmacology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital where he developed a research programme in molecular genetics of hypertension. From 1996 he has been National Co-ordinator of the MRC British Genetics of Hypertension (BRIGHT) Study on behalf of 5 UK Universities www.brightstudy.ac.uk. This has acted as a platform for the Global BP Gen consortium which he co-leads. This combines the talents of 157 scientists from 97 Institutions across the US and Europe and has identified 8 genes influencing blood pressure. Our purpose built clinical research facility at the William Harvey Research Institute played a key part in the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcome Trial recruiting 1157 hypertensives www.whri.qmul.ac.uk/whricrc. This trial has changed international guidance on lipid lowering and blood pressure. From this Barts and The London now have a major clinical trials programme and a partnership with Quintile Transnational to enhance clinical research. In 2000 he successfully bid for £3.1M to create the Barts and The London Genome Centre which now underpins over 40 programmes of research. Since 2008 he directs the Barts and The London National Institute of Health Research Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit. He was appointed Director of William Harvey Research Institute in 2002 and was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2008 and in 2009 became President of the British Hypertension Society.

Current research interests

• Co-leader- the Global BP Gen consortium and steering committee of the International Consortium for BP Genomewide Association Scans 2008 onward. This consortium has discovered and published 8 genes influencing blood pressure in Nature Genetics. It combines the endeavours of 157 scientists from 93 institutions across Europe and the USA.
  
  
• National Co-ordinator: the MRC British Genetics of Hypertension Study. (1996 onward) - With Patricia Munroe he co-ordinates this study on behalf of 5 other UK universities (Aberdeen, Cambridge, Glasgow, Leicester and Oxford). We published the largest genome screen in human hypertension on 2010 sib pairs highlighting 4 regions that may harbour susceptibility genes for essential hypertension in the Lancet during 2003. The BRIGHT study is an active member of the MRC Human Sample Collection Initiative.
  
  
• Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium – The BRIGHT study has partnered Oxford, Cambridge and the Sanger Centre to undertake genomewide SNP and CNV association studies of hypertension and preeclampsia.
  
  
• Genetics of Pre-eclampsia Consortium - Principal investigator of this (BHF Multi-centre Programme which has identified 1000 families with pregnancy related hypertension for genetic studies.
  
  
• Deputy Chair: The London Biobank Regional Collaborating Centre 2002 onward. Member: Biobank UK Sample Storage Committee. 2003 onward Chair of Biobank UK Ethnicity Sub-Group 2004 onward Member: Biobank UK Measurement Sub-Group 2005 onward.

Key publications

• Kolz M, Johnson T, Sanna S, Teumer A, Vitart V, Perola M, Mangino M, Albrecht E, Wallace C, Farrall M, Johansson A, Nyholt DR, Aulchenko Y, Beckmann JS, Bergmann S, Bochud M, Brown M, Campbell H; EUROSPAN Consortium, Connell J, Dominiczak A, Homuth G, Lamina C, McCarthy MI; ENGAGE Consortium, Meitinger T, Mooser V, Munroe P, Nauck M, Peden J, Prokisch H, Salo P, Salomaa V, Samani NJ, Schlessinger D, Uda M, Völker U, Waeber G, Waterworth D, Wang-Sattler R, Wright AF, Adamski J, Whitfield JB, Gyllensten U, Wilson JF, Rudan I, Pramstaller P, Watkins H; PROCARDIS Consortium, Doering A, Wichmann HE; KORA Study, Spector TD, Peltonen L, Völzke H, Nagaraja R, Vollenweider P, Caulfield M; WTCCC, Illig T, Gieger C. Meta-analysis of 28,141 individuals identifies common variants within five new loci that influence uric acid concentrations. PLoS Genet. 2009 Jun;5(6):e1000504. Epub 2009 Jun 5.
  
  
• Newton-Cheh C, Johnson T, Gateva V, Tobin MD, Bochud M, -then 150 co-authors,then- Elliott P, Abecasis GR, Caulfield M, Munroe PB. Genome-wide association study identifies eight loci associated with blood pressure. Nat Genet. 2009 May 10. [Epub ahead of print].
  
  
• Newhouse S, Farrall M, Wallace C, Hoti M, Burke B, Howard P, Onipinla A, Lee K, Shaw-Hawkins S, Dobson R, Brown M, Samani NJ, Dominiczak AF, Connell JM, Lathrop GM, Kooner J, Chambers J, Elliott P, Clarke R, Collins R, Laan M, Org E, Juhanson P, Veldre G, Viigimaa M, Eyheramendy S, Cappuccio FP, Ji C, Iacone R, Strazzullo P, Kumari M, Marmot M, Brunner E, Caulfield M, Munroe PB. Polymorphisms in the WNK1 gene are associated with blood pressure variation and urinary potassium excretion. PLoS One. 2009;4(4):e5003. Epub 2009 Apr 4.
  
  
• Willer CJ, Speliotes EK, Loos RJ, Li S, Lindgren CM, Heid IM, then 102 co-authors then - Altshuler D, Caulfield MJ, Chanock SJ, Farooqi IS, Ferrucci L, Guralnik JM, Hattersley AT, Hu FB, Jarvelin MR, Laakso M, Mooser V, Ong KK, Ouwehand WH, Salomaa V, Samani NJ, Spector TD, Tuomi T, Tuomilehto J, Uda M, Uitterlinden AG, Wareham NJ, Deloukas P, Frayling TM, Groop LC, Hayes RB, Hunter DJ, Mohlke KL, Peltonen L, Schlessinger D, Strachan DP, Wichmann HE, McCarthy MI, Boehnke M, Barroso I, Abecasis GR, Hirschhorn JN; Genetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits Consortium. Six new loci associated with body mass index highlight a neuronal influence on body weight regulation. Nat Genet. 2009 Jan;41(1):25-34. Epub 2008 Dec 14.
  
  
• Caulfield MJ, Munroe PB, O'Neill D, Witkowska K, Charchar FJ, Doblado M, Evans S, Eyheramendy S, Onipinla A, Howard P, Shaw-Hawkins S, Dobson RJ, Wallace C, Newhouse SJ, Brown M, Connell JM, Dominiczak A, Farrall M, Lathrop GM, Samani NJ, Kumari M, Marmot M, Brunner E, Chambers J, Elliott P, Kooner J, Laan M, Org E, Veldre G, Viigimaa M, Cappuccio FP, Ji C, Iacone R, Strazzullo P, Moley KH, Cheeseman C. SLC2A9 is a high-capacity urate transporter in humans. PLoS Med. 2008 Oct 7;5(10):e197.
  
  
• Loos RJ, Lindgren CM, Li S, Wheeler E, Zhao JH, then 86 co-authors then -Ouwehand WH, Caulfield MJ, Samani NJ, Frayling TM, Vollenweider P, Waeber G, Mooser V, Deloukas P, McCarthy MI, Wareham NJ, Barroso I, Jacobs KB, Chanock SJ, Hayes RB, Lamina C, Gieger C, Illig T, Meitinger T, Wichmann HE, Kraft P, Hankinson SE, Hunter DJ, Hu FB, Lyon HN, Voight BF, Ridderstrale M, Groop L, Scheet P, Sanna S, Abecasis GR, Albai G, Nagaraja R, Schlessinger D, Jackson AU, Tuomilehto J, Collins FS, Boehnke M, Mohlke KL. Common variants near MC4R are associated with fat mass, weight and risk of obesity. Nat Genet. 2008 Jun;40(6):768-75.
  
  
• Weedon MN, Lango H, Lindgren CM, Wallace C, Evans DM, Mangino M, Freathy RM, Perry JR, Stevens S, Hall AS, Samani NJ, Shields B, Prokopenko I, Farrall M, Dominiczak A; Diabetes Genetics Initiative; Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Johnson T, Bergmann S, Beckmann JS, Vollenweider P, Waterworth DM, Mooser V, Palmer CN, Morris AD, Ouwehand WH; Cambridge GEM Consortium, Zhao JH, Li S, Loos RJ, Barroso I, Deloukas P, Sandhu MS, Wheeler E, Soranzo N, Inouye M, Wareham NJ, Caulfield M, Munroe PB, Hattersley AT, McCarthy MI, Frayling TM. Genome-wide association analysis identifies 20 loci that influence adult height. Nat Genet. 2008 May;40(5):575-83.
  
  
• Wallace C, Newhouse SJ, Braund P, Zhang F, Tobin M, Falchi M, Ahmadi K, Dobson RJ, Marçano AC, Hajat C, Burton P, Deloukas P, Brown M, Connell JM, Dominiczak A, Lathrop GM, Webster J, Farrall M, Spector T, Samani NJ, Caulfield MJ, Munroe PB. Genome-wide association study identifies genes for biomarkers of cardiovascular disease: serum urate and dyslipidemia. Am J Hum Genet. 2008 Jan;82(1):139-49.
  
  
• Sever PS, Poulter NR, Dahlof B, Wedel H, Beevers G, Caulfield M, Collins R, Kjeldsen SE, Kristinsson A, McInnes G, Mehlsen J, Nieminen MS, O'Brien ET, Ostergren J; ASCOT Investigators. The Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial lipid lowering arm: extended observations 2 years after trial closure. Eur Heart J. 2008 Feb;29(4):499-508.

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