Aroon is director at UCL's Institute of Cardiovascular Science and a consultant in clinical pharmacology and General (Internal) Medicine at University College London and UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
What do you do? and what is a typical week for you?
I am a clinical academic, working both at UCL and UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
At UCL I am professor of genetic epidemiology and director of the UCL institute of cardiovascular science. At UCLH, I am a consultant in clinical pharmacology and general (internal) medicine.
With colleagues, we run an outpatient and inpatient service in internal medicine, cardiovascular disorders and the specialist management of high blood pressure, as well as contributing to the acute medical take. As a clinical pharmacologist I also work closely with the UCLH Pharmacy on prescribing and medicines management. I am Vice Chair of the UCLH Use of Medicines Committee and recently became a member of the London Regional Medicines Optimisation Committee.
No two weeks are precisely the same but, on average, I have about a 70:30 split between research and teaching on the one hand, and clinical work on the other. My research focuses on the use of genomics to identify and validate drug targets for common diseases. I have a research group of 8-10 people, from PhD students to post-docs, some clinical and some non-clinical. I have a great set of collaborators in epidemiology, health informatics, statistics and laboratory science, at UCL and elsewhere, without whom my own research would be impossible.
I have an outpatient clinic most weeks and cover the wards and acute admissions on a rotational basis. We have 5-6 clinical pharmacology trainees with us at any one time, some on clinical service, some fulfilling their other training needs, and some who are out of programme doing PhDs.
I teach on the MBBS course, various BSc courses, as well as running an MSC module in Pharmacogenetics.
I have a variety of administrative responsibilities in my role as Director of a UCL Institute and recently took on the leadership of the cardiovascular theme in the UCL NIHR Biomedical Research Centre.
What qualifications and experience do you have?
I graduated in Physiological Sciences from the University of Oxford in in 1986, and in Medicine, from the United Medical and Dental Schools (Guy’s Hospital) in 1989. After clinical posts in London, I undertook research on the genetics of high blood pressure as an MRC Clinical Training Fellow in the University of Cambridge, with Morris Brown, obtaining my PhD in 1993. I continued specialist training in general medicine and clinical pharmacology at UCL and UCL Hospitals, initially pursuing research on endothelial function in cardiovascular disease with Patrick Vallance and Raymond MacAllister, before moving into the field of genomics, first as a BHF Intermediate and then Senior Fellow. I have been at UCL and UCLH since 1997.
What’s the most interesting aspect of your job?
I have always been fascinated by the idea that it is possible to alter human physiology and the course of disease, to the benefit of patients, by the careful design and use of drugs. Genetic studies are accelerating progress by providing fascinating new insights on disease mechanisms and new therapeutic targets, some of which are already influencing drug development and clinical practice. Conducting research that helps inform the development of new medicines on the one hand, and being involved in the evaluation and use of recently developed medicines on the other is something I continue to find absorbing. Although my focus has been cardiovascular disease, I have always enjoyed variety, which is perhaps why I selected internal medicine as a clinical specialty. By conducting research in both genomics and pharmacology, my interests remain diverse and are not necessarily tied to a particular organ or system.
What are your research interests?
My main interest is in the use of genomics as a research tool to identify and validate therapeutic targets for common diseases.
Specifically, we exploit the concept that common variants in genes encoding a potential drug target, that affect expression or activity of the encoded protein, can reliably anticipate the action of a drug that acts on the same target. Since variants in a gene assort at random at conception (Mendel’s law), genetic studies in large human populations effectively mimic the design of a randomized controlled trial, the pivotal experiment in drug development.
This insight is promoting a new paradigm for drug development that we hope will improve the efficiency of drug development in the future.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone seeking a career in clinical pharmacology?
I think the most important thing is to find some good mentors in the field. Fortunately, it’s a small and friendly (but also highly influential) specialty, and all of us are passionate about the specialty, so this shouldn’t be too difficult. I have been fortunate to have been guided and supported by a number of clinical pharmacologists at different stages of my own career, and have tried to provide the same support for others now forging their own careers.