Dirk Blom

Biography

Undergraduate teaching includes tutorials and lectures to final year and fourth year medicine students. Postgraduate teaching activities include clinical, laboratory and research meetings. A clinical meeting is held on Tuesdays from 12h30 to 13h30 and utilises the preceding clinic for teaching: discussions centre around patients who were seen and topics of clinical interest. A laboratory meeting is held on Fridays from 12h00 to 13h00 to evaluate the diagnostic tests that were performed in the laboratory. This exposes the postgraduate students to a variety of electrophoretic, ultracentrifugation and some genetic investigations as well as some chromatography. A Lipid and Atherosclerosis Research Forum (LARF) is held every Thursday at 12h00 to 13h00 to discuss a wide range of issues in lipidology, encompassing epidemiology, general medicine, cardiology, pharmacology, pathology, chemistry, and biochemistry. A surveillance of scientific literature is also included in this programme. The division also regularly provides continuing medical education activities for general practitioners and specialists.

Research Interest

The Division of Lipidology has been active in the study of strategies to control dyslipidaemia and the associated vascular disease. There is a strong emphasis on doing clinical trials in the development of lipid modifying drugs in moderate and severe dyslipidaemia. Our experience relates to virtually all statins from their earliest trials, fibrates, ezetimibe, other cholesterol absorption inhibitors (AVE5530), nutraceuticals, cholesterol ester transfer protein inhibitors (torcetrapib), acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) inhibitors, squalene synthase inhibitors (lapaquistat), extended release niacin with laropiprant, microsomal triglyceride transfer protein inhibitors (lomitapide), antisense oligonucleotides (mipomersen) and monoclonal antibodies to PSCK9. More recently the division has also participated in diabetes trials with cardiovascular endpoints (rosiglitazone, dilaglutide). Clinical research that leads to the identification of specific, severe disorders of lipoprotein metabolism or the characterisation of unusual disorders, contributes to the understanding of the prevalence and causes of these disorders in the region we serve. The division also contributes lipid expertise to the study of metabolic alterations associated with antiretroviral therapy. Laboratory research includes the description of dyslipidaemia by novel techniques including non-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and a modified Chugaev reaction. Clinical laboratory research has included the investigation of dyslipidaemia by stable isotope turnover studies in collaborations with international units. Current research includes investigation of LDL-receptor mutations, lipoprotein lipase mutations, apolipoproteinE mutations, endothelial lipase mutations, Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome, PCSK9 (in collaboration with Professor Gilles Lambert) and hypobetalipoproteinaemia. Other research interests include lipid peroxidation in edible oils and the anti-oxidant activities of foodstuffs including wine. The laboratory is also collaborating with the Department of Archaeology in the determination of the nutritional composition of the diet that was likely consumed by early hominids.