Our people

Dr Anna Hemnes is a translational physician-scientist researching altered metabolism in pulmonary vascular disease. Her research focuses on the effect of BMPR2 mutation on insulin-mediated intracellular signalling in the pulmonary vasculature and right ventricle, and the genetic susceptibility to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in human pulmonary vascular disease. 

Her work has led to the development of an Omic signature of vasodilator-responsive pulmonary arterial hypertension, and she is actively researching novel blood-based Omic predictive strategies for FDA-approved therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Dr Hemnes sees patients at the Vanderbilt Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease and serves as the Director of Research for the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 

Paul Corris is an Emeritus Professor of Thoracic Medicine at the Institute of Translational and Clinical Science at Newcastle University, UK. He is a past Chair of the UK's National Pulmonary Vascular Service and played a major role in establishing lung transplantation as a viable clinical entity globally. 

Paul is a past president of the British Thoracic Society and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. A highly cited principal investigator, he has received numerous awards, including the British Thoracic Societies' Medal and PVRI Life Achievement Award, both in 2018. The European Respiratory Society awarded him a lifetime achievement award and its Fellowship in 2022.

Dr Paul M Hassoun is a Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He specialises in pulmonary disease and critical care medicine. Dr Hassoun directs the Pulmonary Hypertension Programme and has led efforts for research in Pulmonary Hypertension for over three decades. 

He is an Associate Editor (AE) of the European Respiratory Journal and former AE of the Journal of Clinical Investigation and is on the editorial board of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and Pulmonary Circulation. Dr Hassoun is a member of many professional organisations, including the American Thoracic Society, the European Respiratory Society, and the American Heart Association. 

Anushka Patel is the Chief Executive Officer at The George Institute for Global Health. She is a Professor of Medicine at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and an honorary consultant cardiologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney. Professor Patel is a member of principal committees for Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council. Her research focuses on the prevention and management of common non-communicable diseases. 

Professor Patel has developed technology-based primary care platforms, alternative healthcare workforce models, and "polypill"-based strategies for delivering preventive care. She has established research partnerships in several countries and currently, Chairs the Board of George Medicines, a spin-out company focused on developing affordable innovative treatments for common chronic conditions. 

Martin Wilkins MD (DSc, FBPhS, FMedSci) is a Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at Imperial College London. He has spent the last 30 years researching pulmonary hypertension to identify new drug targets and better ways of monitoring the disease. He has published widely on the cyclic GMP signalling pathway and circulating biomarkers. 

His current work uses genetics, proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and digital technologies to define disease pathways. His research is supported by the British Heart Foundation and the National Institute of Health Research. He is the Scientific Director of W12 Therapeutics. 

Dr Stenmark is a renowned Professor of Paediatrics and Medicine, serving as Division Head and La Cache Endowed Chair of Paediatric Critical Care. He has published close to 400 papers related to pulmonary hypertension and has conducted studies on PH across various species, including bovine. 

Dr Stenmark has served on several national and international committees, played a significant role in planning international meetings on PH, and presently serves as the Director of the Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research Laboratories at the University of Colorado. He is also the Deputy Editor of Pulmonary Circulation and an Associate Editor of Cardiovascular Research. Dr Stenmark is an Elected Member of the Association of American Physicians and was recently awarded the Dickinson W. Richards Lecture Award by the American Heart Association.

Dr. Seeger is a Professor of Internal Medicine at the Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Germany. He chairs the Universities of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center, the Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary Institute, the German Center for Lung Research, and the Institute for Lung Health. Since 2019 he has chaired the “Global Deep Phenotyping PH Meta Registry – GoDeep”, a worldwide PH database for phenotyping PH patients. 

His research has focused on various forms of acute and chronic respiratory failure, pulmonary infections, and pulmonary hypertension. Numerous translational successes, including several globally approved drugs for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension, have resulted from the research collaborations he initiated. His publication record includes > 1000 publications in international journals, his current H-index is 135, and his work has been cited > 80,000 times (Google Scholar 6/2023). 

Prof Khodr Tello is a professor and Vice Director of the Department of Respiratory Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine at the University Hospital of Giessen in Germany. He graduated in Cardiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Infectiology, and Respiratory Medicine. Prof Tello is the head of the outpatient clinic for pulmonary hypertension, the ICU, the Right Heart Cathlab, and the Right Heart Imaging Unit. 

In 2023 Prof Tello was appointed Professor for Right ventricular function and Pulmonary Hypertension. He has published widely on right ventricular function and right ventricular pulmonary artery coupling. His research is supported by the German Center of Lung Research (DZL) and the German Research Foundation (DFG). 

Dr. Jane Leopold is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a clinical interventional cardiologist, Director of the Women’s Interventional Cardiology Health Initiative, and Director of the Cardiovascular Research Cores at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is an internationally recognised investigator with expertise in endothelial biology and vascular phenotyping. Her clinical research involves using precision medicine approaches to characterise the pathobiological mechanisms underlying complex cardiopulmonary vascular diseases. 

Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health And National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, the American Heart Association, and the Lerner Foundation, and she was named a Thomas W. Smith MD Scholar. She is currently the Deputy Editor for cardiology at the New England Journal of Medicine. 

Laura Oppegard is a senior Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellow at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon. She completed her medical school training in Southern California. Her interest in pulmonary vascular disease, observational epidemiology, and right ventricular failure was sparked during her fellowship. 

Research areas of interest within pulmonary vascular disease include cohort analysis and identifying patient sub-phenotypes to better understand mechanisms of right heart adaptation and afterload. She is grateful for the opportunity to be involved in the Scientific & Medical Advisory Council with PVRI.

Dr Jason Weatherald is an Associate Professor at the University of Alberta, specialising in pulmonary arterial hypertension and acute pulmonary embolism research. His work focuses on risk assessment methods and patient-oriented studies in pulmonary hypertension, including innovative clinical trial endpoints and designs. 

Since 2020, Dr Weatherald has also contributed significantly to COVID-19 research, investigating awake-prone positioning and dyspnea mechanisms in Long Covid. Alongside his clinical interests in pulmonary hypertension, he demonstrates expertise in lung transplantation and thromboembolic disease. Recognised in numerous publications, Dr Weatherald is a leading figure driving advancements in pulmonary medicine, with a commitment to improving patient care and reshaping clinical practice. 

Dr Roham Zamanian is a Professor and Director of the Stanford Adult Pulmonary Hypertension Programme, and Associate Director of the Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease. He has spent over 20 years conducting translational and clinical research in pulmonary vascular diseases, with a focus on PAH. He has helped establish the Stanford Pulmonary Hypertension Biobank and the Wall Center PH Database. 

His academic mission is to design and implement clinical trials and mentor academic researchers. Dr Zamanian has completed numerous research studies, partnered with clinical researchers, and developed three novel PAH therapeutics.

Dr. Hossein Ardeschir Ghofrani, MD is a renowned Professor of Internal Medicine and Associate Professor at the Kerckhoff-Klinik GmbH. With a focus on Pulmonary Hypertension, Ischemia-reperfusion, and Experimental Therapeutics, he spearheads groundbreaking clinical trials. His expertise spans Pulmonary Circulation, Translational Medicine, and Cardio-pulmonary Interaction. Dr. Ghofrani's academic journey includes affiliations with Capital Medical University and the University of California, San Diego. A prolific researcher, he boasts an h-index of 86, co-authoring 513 publications and garnering 34,539 citations. Notably, his contributions extend to pivotal studies on Riociguat, underscoring his profound impact on advancing medical knowledge and treatment modalities.

Dr. Bradley Maron is the Senior Associate Dean for Precision Medicine and Executive Co-Director of the University of Maryland-Institute for Health Computing at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. His laboratory specialises in the study of redox biochemistry and utilises network medicine to characterise the pathobiological mechanisms to understand complex cardiovascular diseases. 

Dr. Maron has led collaborative projects on the hemodynamic spectrum of clinical risk, which has contributed to the revised definition of pulmonary hypertension. He has co-authored over 200 scientific manuscripts and is funded by the National Institutes of Health among other Foundations. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and a recipient of numerous teaching awards.

Catherine Simpson is an assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins University and a physician-scientist member of the Johns Hopkins Pulmonary Hypertension Program. Catherine earned an M.D. in 2012 from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she also served as chief resident. She performed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine with focused training in pulmonary vascular disease with the Johns Hopkins Pulmonary Hypertension Program. 

During her fellowship, Catherine earned an M.H.S. degree in Clinical Investigation from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Simpson performs clinical and translational research exploring dysregulated metabolism in PAH, with a focus on identifying novel biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets. 

Grazyna Kwapiszewska is a professor at the Medical University of Graz and the Institute of Lung Health in Giessen, Germany. From 2017 until 2024, she served as the director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Vascular Research. Over the past 20 years, she has dedicated her research to understanding the mechanisms of vascular remodeling, with a current focus on vascular involvement in chronic lung diseases. 

Her investigations center around cellular interactions and the components of the basement membrane within the context of vessel remodeling, particularly in chronic lung diseases such as fibrosis. Throughout her career, she has been recognized with several awards and distinctions for her contributions to the field.

Karen joined us in 2022. She’s a huge admirer of the non-profit sector, and has led a number of UK health & social care charities. Karen reports to the PVRI Board, and she runs the charity day-to-day. If you’d like to talk about the big picture things - strategy, finance, our global work, policy, or supporting us (especially supporting us!) please get in touch. 

Katie transitioned from a career in graphic design in 2021. You'll find her working behind the scenes to ensure PVRI functions smoothly, whilst keeping our membership at the heart of everything she does. She's here to answer your queries and offer support whenever needed. Feel free to reach out to her. 

Not sure who to direct your query to? Email us and Katie will be on hand. 

Debs joined us in July 2023. She has a background in communications, website development, and digital marketing, primarily within the charity sector. She oversees our website, branding, and comms and marketing strategies. For all things branding, press or website-related, don’t hesitate to reach out to her. 

Emily joined us in July 2024. She has a background in digital marketing primarily in the life science field, and more recently gained experience in the charity sector whilst living in Australia. She works on all things digital, including our monthly webinars and Community Calls as well as managing our social media channels. If you have anything to share or want to get involved, give Emily a shout.

Sarah has worked in the charity sector in professional bodies in the UK and Ireland, in areas such as pharmacy, food science and energy engineering. She is excited to have joined PVRI as a Project Coordinator in June 2024 to work with the Workstreams and Task Forces. If you are part of a Workstream or Task Force do say hello. 

Steph is an FCA qualified accountant and provides finance services and expertise for the PVRI. Steph works only in health-related charities, which maximises the added value and impact of her work. 

Michael Brown Consulting provides specialist consulting services focused on helping publishers, academic societies, and journal owners grow and sustain their business. Michael has supported the PVRI’s peer-reviewed journal Pulmonary Circulation and helped the Editors and publisher to make it a leading forum for PVD research.

Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub FRS, OM is Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, Founder and Director of Research at the Magdi Yacoub Institute at Harefield Heart Science Centre, Founder and President of the chain of Hope and Founder and Director of the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation which created the Aswan Heart Centre. 

Born in Egypt and graduated from Cairo University Medical School in 1957 he trained in London and held an Assistant Professorship at the University of Chicago. A former British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery for over 20 years and Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Harefield Hospital from 1969-2001 and Royal Brompton Hospital from 1986-2001, Professor Yacoub established the largest heart and lung transplantation programme in the world at Harefield Hospital where more than 2,500 transplant operations have been performed. He has developed novel operations for several complex congenital heart anomalies. 

Research led by Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub include tissue engineering heart valves, myocardial regeneration, novel left ventricular assist devices and wireless sensors with collaborations within Imperial College, nationally and internationally. He has also supervised over 20 higher degree (PhD/MD) students and authored or co-authored more than 1,400 published papers and numerous book chapters on topics including Transplantation, Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, Aortic valve surgery. 

He has a passion for readdressing inequalities in global healthcare delivery with a focus on developing cardiac services in many countries including Egypt, The Gulf region, Jamaica, Ethiopia, Mozambique Rwanda and Uganda. Here his teams at Chain of Hope link experts together around the world to bring life-saving treatments to children in developing and war-torn countries. 

Continuing his desire to make healthcare accessible to all, his Centre in Aswan, offers state-of-the art medical services, free of charge to all patients regardless of colour, religion, or gender and trains a generation of young Egyptian doctors, nurses, scientists, and technicians at the highest international standards. Advancing basic science and applied research is an integral component of the program and he oversees over 60 scientists and students in the areas of Heart Valve Biology and Tissue Engineering, Myocardial Regeneration, Stem Cell Biology, Mechanisms and treatment of Heart Failure and Pulmonary Hypertension in his Centres. 

Among his honours he was awarded a Knighthood for his services to medicine and surgery in 1992 and awarded the Order of Merit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the 2014 New Year’s Honours list. He was awarded Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1998 and Fellowship of The Royal Society in 1999. A lifetime outstanding achievement award in recognition of his contribution to medicine was presented to Professor Yacoub by the Secretary of State for Health in the same year. In 2011 was awarded the Order of the Nile for Science and Humanity and the prestigious Lister Medal in 2015 in recognition of his contribution to surgical science. Accolades Lister Medal awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons for his contribution to surgical science. Awarded the Collar of the Nile and made a Sir for his scientific and humanitarian work.

Professor Lucien Abenhaim is a pharmacoepidemiologist and an expert in public health. His focus is the impact of numerous drugs on populations and risks associated with work. He is recognised as one of the greatest French General Directos of Health (Surgeon General). He holds an MD from the University of Paris, an MSc from McGill University and a PhD from The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris. 

He is a Professor of Public Health at the University of Paris 5 and an Honorary Professor of Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He has previously taught as a Full Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McGill University. He held the position of General Director of Health of France from 1999–2003. In this later capacity he oversaw the public health of the country and participated in European regulatory decisions. He also was an elected Member of the Executive Committee of the World Health Organization. 

Prof Abenhaim has written many academic papers throughout his career, one of the most influential being "Appetite-Suppressant Drugs and the Risk of Primary Pulmonary Hypertension", which he wrote in 1996. 

Public Health Positions 

• General Director of Health, France (1999-2003) 
• Member of the Executive Committee and of the General Assembly of WHO (2000-2003) 

Academic Positions 

• Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University (Associate Prof 1989-1997, Full Prof 1998-2005) 
• Professor of Public Health at Paris University (2004-2009) 
• Honorary professor of epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (2005-present) 

Private Sector 

• Founding director of the Centre for risk research CRRx inc Montreal Canada(1992- present) 
• Research Principal scientist and director of the International Primary Pulmonary Hypertension Study (New England J Medicine, 1996)