Postgraduate research students

The topic of my PhD thesis will be on "Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in heart failure: from prevalence, pathophysiology, diagnosis, clinical implications to interventions". In this research, I will delve into the prevalence of  IDA across heart failure phenotypes, with regards to different diagnostic thresholds used, and try to understand the pathophysiology behind IDA in cardiovascular disease, its implications, and outcomes related to major adverse cardiovascular events, and clinical functional capacity, as well as delve into the potential pharmacotherapy intervention in this population. In the first part of this research, I will work with big data sources, such as UKBiobank, GP medical data, or electronic medical records, to further understand the epidemiology and occurrence of anemia, focussing on IDA and anemia of chronic disease using different cutoff thresholds across heart failure trajectory. The second part of the research will look at the molecular pathophysiology of IDA in the progression of heart failure, and this will help to understand whether anemia (in particular, IDA) is a surrogate marker of cardiovascular disease severity, potential therapeutic target or both. The last bit of this interesting study will involve putting everything together to explore the intervention for IDA to improve major cardiovascular outcomes and clinical function of the heart failure population.

• Dr Pierpaolo Pellicori
• Professor Paul Welsh

Demonstrator (School of Life Sciences)

Peer Well-Being Support

Residence Life Assistance (Maclay Residence Hall for postgraduate)