Cardiovascular Rheology aims to show how the physical properties of the blood and its constituent cells influence the circulation, and how the local microenvironemnt (stromal structures and blood flow) influences the interaction of the blood cells with the vessel wall. We analyse how leukocytes adhere to and migrate into the vessel wall, both as a normal physiological response and in vascular inflammatory pathology.
The conditioning of these processes by shear stress and by stromal cells and matrix are investigated using multi-cellular in vitro co-culture models, incorporating e.g., primary human endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts or stem cells. Inflammatory pathologies of special interest are atherosclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. The murine (ApoE-/-) model of atherosclerosis has also been set up to investigate mechansisms underlying arterial disease.
Group members...
Gerard Nash (group lead), Professor of Cardiovascular Rheology and Section Lead: Cardiovascular and Respiratory Sciences
Ed Rainger (group lead)
Helen McGettrick (group lead)
Lynn Butler
Clara Yates
Thin Luu
Ding Luo, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Matthew Harrison
Phil Stone, Technician
Peter Rae, Technician (with Cancer Studies)
Hannah Jeffery (with Cancer Studies and I&I), PhD student
Clare Box, PhD student (with Cancer Studies and I&I)