Summary
Dr Kirkby is a cardiovascular pharmacologist who leads a group in the Vascular Biology section of the National Heart & Lung Institute. His research interests centre around vasoactive hormones in health and disease, using rigorous basic science approaches including complex in vivo and in vitro models coupled with cutting edge '-omics' and systems biology techniques to address clinical relevant questions. These are applied with a view to rapid translation of findings into new drugs and therapeutic approaches that benefit the treatment of cardiovascular disease. He is also academic lead for the BSc Medical Biosciences course LABP, LITP and WKBP modules.
Dr Kirkby performed his undergraduate training at the University of Edinburgh where he received a 1st class honours degree in Pharmacology in 2005. He remained in Edinburgh to undertake a PhD in the laboratoroes of Prof. David Webb and Dr Patrick Hadoke, studying the roles of the endothelial hormones, particularly endothelin-1, in the response to vascular injury. He completed his first post-doctoral training in Edinburgh under the guidance of Dr Patrick Hadoke and Prof Robin Plevin (Strathclyde University) before joining Imperial College in 2010.
In 2013, Dr Kirkby was awarded an Imperial College Research Fellowship to develop his independent research. In 2015, he was awarded a highly prestigious British Heart Foundation Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellowship which was extended in 2020.
Dr Kirkby has received numerous awards for his work from bodies including American Heart Association, British Pharmacology Society, American Physiology Society, International Association of Inflammation Societies, National Heart & Lung Institute Foundation, Imperial College, British Heart Foundation and Royal Society. In 2015 he was recognised for his outstanding contribution to post-graduate teaching by nomination for an NHLI student supervision award and in 2016 for his contribution to research in the cyclo-oxygenase field through a British Pharmacology Society Bill Bowman Award.
His current work centres around the role of cyclo-oxygenase and related enzyme pathways in cardiovascular disease, cancer, inflammation and immunology and is supported by close collaboration with colleages at NHLI and international leaders in the field. Further information on current research projects in the ‘Research’ page.
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
MacIntyre IM, Turtle EJ, Farrah TE, et al., 2022, Regular Acetaminophen Use and Blood Pressure in People With Hypertension: The PATH-BP Trial, Circulation, Vol:145, ISSN:0009-7322, Pages:416-423
Mitchell J, Shala F, Lopes Pires M, et al., 2021, Endothelial cyclooxygenase-1 paradoxically drives local vasoconstriction and atherogenesis despite underpinning prostacyclin generation, Science Advances, Vol:7, ISSN:2375-2548
Mitchell J, Shala F, Elghazouli Y, et al., 2019, Cell-Specific Gene Deletion Reveals the Antithrombotic Function of COX1 and Explains the Vascular COX1/Prostacyclin Paradox, Circulation Research, Vol:125, ISSN:0009-7330, Pages:847-854
Kirkby NS, Sampaio W, Etelvino G, et al., 2018, Cyclooxygenase-2 selectively controls renal blood flow through a novel PPARβ/δ-dependent renal vasodilator pathway, Hypertension, Vol:71, ISSN:0194-911X, Pages:297-305
Kirkby NS, Chan MV, Zaiss AK, et al., 2016, Systematic study of constitutive cyclo-oxygenase-2 expression: role of NFκB and NFAT transcriptional pathways, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol:113, ISSN:1091-6490, Pages:434-439
Kirkby NS, Reed DM, Edin ML, et al., 2015, Inherited human group IVA cytosolic phospholipase A(2) deficiency abolishes platelet, endothelial, and leucocyte eicosanoid generation, The FASEB Journal, Vol:29, ISSN:0892-6638, Pages:4568-4578
Armstrong PCJ, Kirkby NS, Chan MV, et al., 2015, Novel whole blood assay for phenotyping platelet reactivity in mice identifies ICAM-1 as a mediator of platelet-monocyte interaction, Blood, Vol:126, ISSN:0006-4971, Pages:e11-e18
Ahmetaj-Shala B, Kirkby NS, Knowles R, et al., 2015, Evidence that links loss of cyclooxygenase-2 with increased asymmetric dimethylarginine novel explanation of cardiovascular side effects associated with anti-inflammatory drugs, Circulation, Vol:131, ISSN:0009-7322, Pages:633-U113
Brooke MA, Longhurst HJ, Plagnol V, et al., 2013, Cryptogenic multifocal ulcerating stenosing enteritis associated with homozygous deletion mutations in cytosolic phospholipase A2-alpha, Gut, Vol:63, ISSN:0017-5749, Pages:96-104
Kirkby NS, Lundberg MH, Chan MV, et al., 2013, Blockade of the purinergic P2Y<sub>12</sub> receptor greatly increases the platelet inhibitory actions of nitric oxide, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol:110, ISSN:0027-8424, Pages:15782-15787
Kirkby NS, Lundberg MH, Harrington LS, et al., 2012, Cyclooxygenase-1, not cyclooxygenase-2, is responsiblefor physiological production of prostacyclin in thecardiovascular system, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America