BHF Professor Ziad Mallat elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences

BHF Professor Ziad Mallat is among 50 world-leading UK researchers who have been elected to the prestigious Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences. 

The new Fellows have been chosen for their exceptional contributions to advancing biomedical science via world-leading research discoveries, running national science communication and engagement programmes and translating scientific advances into benefits for patients and the public.

The value of medical science has never been more apparent than during the current coronavirus (Covid-19) global health crisis. From testing and vaccine development, to public health and behavioural science, to addressing the impacts of lockdown measures on mental health, biomedical and health scientists are helping to guide the UK through unprecedented challenges.

New treatments for atherosclerosis

Professor Mallat is a world leader in research to understand how the cells of our immune system affect blood vessel walls, which has great promise for the development of new treatments for atherosclerosis – the disease process that leads to narrowing of the coronary arteries and a heart attack.  This forms the basis for his short-listed application for the BHF’s Big Beat Challenge, a single £30 million award for transformative research.   

Understanding life-threatening aneurysms

He is also an expert in the study of aortic aneurysm, a potentially fatal condition in which the vessel wall thins and eventually bursts.  Cells of our immune system have also been implicated in the development of aneurysms, for which there is no treatment apart from major surgery, often as a life-threatening emergency.  Professor Mallat is working to find new treatments targeting immune cells.