Paul Kingston, BSc(Hons) MBChB(Hons) FRCP PhD

Well hello! It's nice to know that there's anyone out there who's interested in my contribution to the University, and to life in general.

Where to start? OK. I hold the position of Senior Lecturer in Cardiology within the Cardiovascular Research Group. My role is principally as a researcher: I head a small group investigating the therapeutic application of cardiovascular gene transfer. But more of that elsewhere... I also work as an honorary Consultant in the Cardiology department of Salford Royal Hospital, where I make my small contribution to the cardiovascular well-being of my fellow man in Greater Manchester.

Born and raised in the north-east of England, my higher education began at Manchester Medical School in the early 1980s. I was awarded the John Russell Medical Entrance Scholarship in 1982 and obtained a 2:1 in Medical Biochemistry in a year of intercalated study in 1985 before taking a year out of education to recover from injuries incurred in an RTA (I wasn't driving and I wasn't drunk at the time - it hurt!). Returning to Medical School, I was awarded the degrees of MB;ChB with Honours in 1989 and set off on what I anticipated was to be a career of service commitment to the NHS. I obtained membership of the Royal College of Physicians in 1992 and after several years as a middle-grade trainee in cardiology, decided to take a year or two to indulge in a short period of research. I was awarded a Bristol-Myers Squibb Cardiovascular Research Fellowship in 1998, which allowed me to make the transition from part-time to full-time research student and led ultimately to the award of my PhD at the University of Manchester in 2002. In 2001 I won the MMS Pfizer prize for medical research and came runner-up in the BCS Young research Worker's prize and the Menarini Academy Cardiovascular Research awards (I think I should have won both of these too, but my stance may be less than entirely objective).

In 2004 I was awarded a British Heart Foundation Intermediate Research Fellowship and in June 2006 won one of the first tranche of HEFCE "New Blood" Clinical Senior Lecturerships, which I took up in June 2007. Right now I'm leading a small group of enthusiastic and dedicated researchers through our adventures in vascular gene transfer. It isn't an easy road, but someone's got to get out in front and blaze a trail!

My research interest lies in the field of therapeutic vascular gene transfer.
Within this area I'm using recombinant adenoviruses to investigate the potential for a variety of anti-fibrotic transgene products to inhibit the vascular responses to injury, with the intention of preventing the forms of accelerated atherosclerosis that occur after percutaneous coronary intervention and in aorto-coronary bypass conduits. I’m developing the same anti-fibrotic transgenes for therapeutic application in the setting of cardiac fibrosis, which is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease and for which no satisfactory treatments exist.

In addition, I’m working with Professor Mark Boyett on the application of biopacemaking by gene transfer of ion channels to pacemaking and conducting tissues.

I'm also investigating means of maximizing gene expression from non-viral gene transfer vectors. By development of chimeric promoter/enhancer constructs and by manipulation of other cis-acting elements within plasmid-DNA expression vectors, I'm developing plasmids that will confer maximal transgene expression after vascular gene transfer. I'm also collaborating with colleagues elsewhere in the University of Manchester to develop non-viral mechanisms of gene delivery that will be applicable to the clinical setting.

Collaborations outwith the University of Manchester are aimed at exploitation in the setting of renal fibrosis and cutaneous wound healing of those anti-fibrotic therapies that have been proven successful within the vasculature.

Postgraduate research
I've successfully supervised 5 PhD students and 1 MD student so far and I'm currently supervising:

• Imthiaz Manoly (Adenovirus-mediated and non-viral gene transfer into porcine interposition vein grafts)

And co-supervisinhg:

• Munir Choudhury (Biopacemakers: new concepts and new targets)

I'd be delighted to deal with enquiries from prospective post-graduate students wishing to study for a higher research degree in the field of vascular gene therapy. Go on, you know you want to...

Collaborators

• Professor Mark Boyett
      University of Manchester
• Dr Simon Scott
      University of Kent
• Professor Andy Baker
      University of Glasgow
• Professor Osam Mazda
      Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
• Dr Harmesh Aojula
      University of Manchester
• Dr Chris Newman
      University of Sheffield
• Dr Stephen Hart
      UCL, London

• British Cardiovascular Society
• British Society for Cardiovascular Research
• British Society for Gene Therapy (co-optee to Executive Committee 2004-2009)
• European Society of Cardiology

• Molecular biology techniques

• Generation and characterization of vectors for adenovirus-mediated and non-viral gene transfer

• Mammalian tissue and organ culture

• Ex vivo and in vivo models of accelerated atherosclerosis and neointimal hyperplasia

• BSc(Hons) - 1985 - Medical Biochemistry - Manchester
• MBChB(Hons) - 1989 - Medicine - Manchester
• MRCP(UK) - 1992
• PhD - 2002 - Manchester