Albert Ferro

Biography

Albert Ferro studied Medicine at King’s College London (1978-1984), obtaining a 1st Class Honours intercalated BSc degree in Biochemistry in 1981. Following General Professional Training in Internal Medicine, he obtained MRCP(UK) in 1988, after which he worked for 2 years as a Registrar in Medicine at the Royal London Hospital. In 1990, he obtained an MRC Training Fellowship to undertake his PhD in Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge, which he completed in 1993.    Following 2 further years of training as a Registrar in Cardiovascular Medicine at Bristol Royal Infirmary, he was Senior Registrar in Clinical Pharmacology at the Hammersmith Hospital from 1995 to 1996 before appointment to his current position (initially as Senior Lecturer, and successively Reader and Professor). Professor Ferro is ex-Vice-President (2005-2007) of the British Pharmacological Society (Clinical Section). He served as Chair of the London Hypertension Society between 2005 and 2009, of which he remains a committee member. He is Treasurer of the London Vascular Biology Forum (2005 onwards). He is a member of: the Association of Physicians of the United Kingdom, Physiological Society, British Hypertension Society, Medical Research Society, British Society for Cardiovascular Research, and International Society for Heart Research. He serves on the Editorial Boards of the following journals: British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Current Vascular Pharmacology and International Journal of Clinical Practice. He is currently Reviews Editor of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. In addition to his academic activities he provides a General (Internal) Medicine service to the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, as well as running the Hypertension Clinic in conjunction with Professor Phil Chowienczyk and Dr Andy Webb.

Research Interest

Professor Ferro’s research has focused primarily on understanding vascular endothelial and platelet function, with particular reference to the L-arginine / nitric oxide system. His group has been examining signal-transduction mechanisms relating to nitric oxide biosynthesis in endothelial cells and platelets, both in health and in patients with cardiovascular disease states.   A major focus of current research is the understanding of the role of circulating monocyte-platelet aggregates both in the regulation of monocyte phenotype and in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. The goal of this research programme is to identify novel therapeutic targets for treatment of patients both with established cardiovascular disease and with cardiovascular risk factors. Another main thrust of his work is in understanding the pathophysiology of aspirin resistance, as well as developing new and better diagnostic tools for identifying it. The work above involves the complementary use of a variety of techniques such as cell culture, platelet aggregometry, flow cytometry, molecular biology, protein immunodetection, proteomics as well as biochemical assays of biosynthesis both of nitric oxide and of reactive oxygen species. International collaborators include Professor Xu Biao (Nanjing University Medical School, China) and Professor Ji Yong (Nanjing Medical University, China).