Professor Keith Fox

BHF Duke of Edinburgh Chair of Cardiology

University of Edinburgh - a BHF Centre of Research Excellence

Professor Fox’s research focuses on the mechanisms by which coronary heart disease develops. He is investigating the ways we can monitor the development of disease in the lab and the clinic. And he's looking to establish new life-saving treatments.

Read more about this research and watch a video of Professor Fox and heart patient Elizabeth Scarr, whose experiences helped to change doctors' guidelines.

Interrupting disease progress

Professor Fox's Edinburgh team is examining patients with coronary heart disease, to show how we can interrupt the build-up of fatty plaques and reduce the risk of heart attack and heart failure.

Fox's team is investigating the impact of genetic and environmental factors on the early steps that lead to the build-up of fatty deposits in blood vessel walls. These fatty deposits are also known as atheroma. They contain a mixture materials, including immune cells and deposits of fats including cholesterol.

The Edinburgh researchers are looking at the influence of genes, the environment and the body's own immune system on the build-up of fatty plaques. They are also examining the biological processes leading to blood clotting. These factors all contribute to defects in the cells lining the artery wall, also known as the endothelium.

Unmasking disease

The Edinburgh group has unravelled the components of atheroma using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), optical imaging techniques and high resolution ultrasound.

Current studies take this knowledge into real-life situations to reveal the health and make-up of blood vessels in patients with coronary heart disease. This work has the potential to identify patients at risk and improve treatments.

Professor Fox hopes these techniques will also benefit the care of patients with other heart and skeletal muscle conditions, including heart failure. 

Threatened heart attack

Professor Fox is an international expert in acute coronary syndromes, which occur in people due to narrowed coronary arteries causing chest pain. They are sometimes described as ‘threatened heart attacks’.

Fox’s team has led major studies to reveal the best way to treat acute coronary syndromes. The syndromes often indicate that a full-blown heart attack is just around the corner, so it is crucial to get treatment right and protect people from a dangerous attack.

The work from Edinburgh has already changed national and international guidelines for best practice. Professor Fox continues to research the biology underlying acute coronary syndromes, and tackle the risks and benefits of potential new therapies to prevent the build up of dangerous blood clots in diseased arteries.

Cardiac specific gene targeting

Fox's team is also exploring the key genes involved in blood pressure regulation and the development of hardening of the arteries. This enables us to understand the mechanisms for the development of evidence based therapies.