Leicester Medical School
Department of Cardiovascular Sciences

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Professor NJ Samani

British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiology
Head of Department of Cardiovascular Sciences

BSc (Medical Sciences), First Class, 1978, University of Leicester
MB ChB, 1981, University of Leicester
MD, 1994, University of Leicester
FRCP, 1994, London
FACC, 1998
FAHA, 2000
F Med Sci, 2002

Contact details

Cardiology Group,
Department of Cardiovascular Sciences,
University of Leicester,
Clinical Sciences Wing,
Glenfield General Hospital,
Leicester,
LE3 9QP

Tel: 0116 256 3021
Fax: 0116 287 5792
Email: [email protected]

External positions

Co-ordinator of the EURHYPGEN Concerted Action under the BIOMED program of the European Community, 1993-2001
Member of the British Heart Foundation Project Grants Committee, 1999-2002
Member of the Executive of the British Hypertension Society, 2001-2004
Member of the Executive Committee of the British Society for Cardiovascular Research, 2003-2006
Editorial Board of Journal of Hypertension, 1991-1994, 1998-2000
Editorial Board of Quarterly Journal of Medicine, 1992-1997
Editorial Board of Clinical Science, 1998-2001
Associate Editor for Cardiovascular Section, 2002-2006
Editorial Board of High Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Prevention, 2003-

Research interests

• Cardiovascular molecular genetics with an emphasis on hypertension and coronary artery disease
• Haemostatic mechanisms in atherothrombotic diseases
• Role of biological ageing in coronary heart disease
• Novel applications of cardiovascular imaging

Publications in the last five years

MD.Tobin, SM.Raleigh, S.Newhouse, P.Braund, C.Bodycote, J.Ogleby, D.Cross, J.Gracey, S.Hayes, T.Smith, C.Ridge, M.Caulfield, NA.Sheehan, PB.Munroe, PR.Burton, NJ.Samani. Association of WNK1 Gene Polymorphisms and Haplotypes With Ambulatory Blood Pressure in the General Population. Circulation 2005 112:3423-3429.

M.Vasa-Nicotera, S.Brouilette, M.Mangino, JR.Thompson, P.Braund, J-R.Clemitson, A.Mason, CL.Bodycote, SM.Raleigh, E.Louis, and NJ.Samani. Mapping of a Major Locus that Determines Telomere Length in Humans. Am J Hum Genet 2005 76:147-151.

SL.Hetherington, RK.Singh, D.Lodwick, JR.Thompson, AH.Goodall, NJ.Samani. A dimorphism in the P2RY1 receptor gene is associated with increased platelet activation response to ADP. ATVB 2005; 25:252-7.

Khunti K. Samani NJ. Coronary heart disease in people of south-Asian origin. Lancet 2004; 364(9451):2077-8.

Galiñanes M, Sensky PR, Loubani M, Cherryman GR, Leverment JR, Samani NJ. Efficacy of transmyocardial laser revascularization and thoracic sympathectomy for the treatment of refractory angina. Ann Thorac Surg 2004; 78:122-8.

A Helgadottir, A Manolescu, G Thorleifsson, S Gretarsdottir, H Jonsdottir, U Thorsteinsdottir, N J Samani, G Gudmundsson, S F A Grant, G Thorgeirsson, S Sveinbjornsdottir, E M Valdimarsson, S E Matthiasson, H Johannsson, O Gudmundsdottir, M E Gurney, J Sainz, M Thorhallsdottir, M Andresdottir, M L Frigge, E J Topol, A Kong, V Gudnason, H Hakonarson, J R Gulcher & K Stefansson The gene encoding 5-lipoxygenase activating protein confers risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. Nature Genet. 2004;36:233-239

Rigatti R, Jia J-H, Samani NJ, Eperon IC. Exon repetition: a major pathway for processing mRNA of some genes is allele-specific. Nucl Acids Res 2004; 32:441-446.

Mollaki V, Steed RP, Samani NJ, Channer KS, Daly ME. The FcγRIIa His131Arg polymorphism and its association with myocardial infarction. J Thromb Haemostat 2004; 2: 1-2.

Reeves BC. Angelini GD. Bryan AJ. Taylor FC. Cripps T. Spyt TJ. Samani NJ. Roberts JA. Jacklin P. Seehra HK. Culliford LA. Keenan DJ. Rowlands DJ. Clarke B. Stanbridge R. Foale R. A multi-centre randomised controlled trial of minimally invasive direct coronary bypass grafting versus percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty with stenting for proximal stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Health Technology Assessment 2004; 8:1-43.

Tobin MD, Braund PB, Burton PR, Thompson JR, Steeds R, Channer C, Cheng S, Lindpaintner K, Samani NJ. Genotypes and haplotypes predisposing to myocardial infarction: A multilocus case-control study. Eur Heart J 2004; 25:459-467.

Swanson N, Samani NJ. Acute reversible type II (Wenkebach) heart block due to combined chloroquine and diltiazem treatment. Br J Cardiol 2003; 10: 470-471.

Dorsch MF, Barrett JA, Lawrence RA, Maqbool A, Durham NP, Ellis S, Samani NJ, Bishop T, Ball SG, Balmforth AJ, Hall AS. Premature coronary heart disease shows no evidence of linkage to loci encoding for tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases. J Hum Genet 2003; 48: 508-513.

Nkeh B, Samani NJ, Badenhorst D, Libhaber E, Sareli P, Norton GR, Woodiwiss AJ. T594M Variant of the Epithelial Sodium Channel β-Subunit Gene and Hypertension in Black Africans. Am J Hypertens 2003; 16: 847-852.

Sensky PR, Loubani M, Keal RP, Samani NJ, Sosnowski AW, Galiñanes M. Does the type of prosthesis influence early left ventricular mass regression following aortic valve replacement? Assessment with magnetic resonance imaging. Am Heart J 2003; 146: e13-e18.

Moiseeva EP, Williams B, Goodall AH, Samani NJ. Galectin-1 interacts with β-1 subunit of integrin. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2003; 310: 1010-1016.

Freeman DJ, Samani NJ, Wilson V, McMahon AD, Braund PS, Cheng S, Caslake MJ, Packard CJ, Gaffney D, on behalf of the West of Scotland Study Group. A polymorphism of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein gene predicts cardiovascular events in non-smokers in the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study. Eur Heart J 2003; 24: 1833-1842.

Caulfield M, Munroe P, Pembroke J, Samani NJ, Dominiczak A, Brown M, Benjamin N, Webster J, Ratcliffe P, O'Shea S, Papp J, Taylor E, Dobson R, Knight J, Newhouse S, Hooper J, Lee W, Brain N, Clayton D, Lathrop GM, Farrall M, Connell J for The MRC British Genetics of Hypertension Study. Genome-wide mapping of human loci for essential hypertension. Lancet 2003; 361: 2118-2123.

Walsh V, Somody L, Farrell A, Zhang B, Brown J, Pritchard C, Vincent M, Samani NJ. Analysis of the role of the Sa gene in blood pressure regulation by gene targeting. Hypertension 2003; 41: 1212-1218.

Brouilette S, Singh RK, Thompson JR, PhD, Goodall AH, PhD, Samani NJ. White cell telomere length and risk of myocardial infarction. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2003; 23: 842-846.

Moiseeva E, Williams B, Samani NJ. Galectin 1 inhibits incorporation of vitronectin and chondroitin sulphate B into the extracellular matrix of human smooth muscle cells. Biochem Biophys Acta 2003; 1619:125-132.

Klimes I, Weston K, Kovacs P, Gasperikova D, Jezova D, Kvetansky R, Thompson JR, Sebokova E, Samani NJ. Mapping of genetic loci predisposing to hypertriglyceridemia in the hereditary hypertrigyceridemic rat: analysis of genetic association with related traits of the insulin resistance syndrome. Diabetologia 2003; 46: 352-358.

Klerk M, Verhoef P, Clarke R, and the MTHFR Studies Collaboration Group. MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism and risk of coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis of 40 studies. JAMA 2002; 288: 2023-2032.

Clemitson J-R, Pratt J, Frantz S, Sacks SH, Samani NJ. Tissue specificity of chromosome 1 blood pressure QTL region. Hypertension 2002; 40:292-297.

Tiago AD, Samani NJ, Candy GP, Brooksbank R, Libhaber, EN, Sareli P, Woodiwiss AJ, Norton GR. An angiotensinogen gene promoter region variant determines body-size ambulatory blood pressure relations in hypertension Circulation 2002;106: 1483-1487.

Mahadeva H, Brooks G, Lodwick D, Chong NW, Samani NJ. ms1, a novel stress-responsive, muscle-specific gene that is up-regulated in the early stages of pressure overload-induced left ventricular hypertrophy. FEBS Lett 2002;521:100-104.

Singh RK, McMahon AD, Patel H, Packard CJ, Rathbone BJ, Samani NJ for the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Group. Prospective analysis of the association of infection with CagA bearing strains of Helicobacter pylori and coronary heart disease. Heart 2002; 88: 43-46.

Sensky PR, Samani NJ, Horsfield MA, Cherryman GR. Restoration of myocardial blood flow following percutaneous coronary balloon dilatation and stent implantation: assessment with qualitative and quantitative contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. Clin Radiol 2002; 57:593-599.

Sensky PR, Samani NJ, Reek CR, Cherryman GR. Magnetic resonance perfusion imaging in patients with coronary artery disease: a qualitative approach. Int J Cardiovas Imag 2002; 18: 373-383.

Sensky PR, Hudson NM, Keal RP, Samani NJ, Cherryman GR. Interpreting regional myocardial magnetic resonance imaging data: a method for collation with angiographic findings in patients with coronary artery disease. Clin Radiol 2002; 57: 498-501.

Lo M, Liu KL, Clemitson J-R, Sassard J, Samani NJ. Chromosome 1 blood pressure quantitative trait locus region influences renal function curve and salt sensitivity in SHR. Phys Genomics 2002; 8:15-21.

Di Bitondo R, Cameron CL, Daly ME, Croft SA, Steeds RP, Channer KS, Samani NJ, Lillicrap D, Winship PR. The -1185 A/G and -1051 G/A dimorphisms in the von Willebrand factor gene promoter and risk of myocardial infarction. Br J Haematol 2001; 115:701-706.

Croft SA, Samani NJ, Teare MD, Hampton KK, Steeds RP, Channer KS, Daly ME. Novel platelet membrane glycoprotein VI dimorphism is a risk factor for myocardial infarction. Circulation 2001; 104: 1459-1463.

Samani NJ, Boultby R, Butler RB, Thompson JR, Goodall AH. Telomere shortening in atherosclerosis. Lancet 2001 358: 472-473.

Frantz S, Clemitson J, Bihoreau MT, Gauguier D, Samani NJ. Genetic dissection of region around the Sa gene on rat chromosome 1: Evidence for multiple loci affecting blood pressure. Hypertension 2001; 38: 216-221.

Steeds RP, Wardle A, Smith PD, Martin D, Channer KS, Samani NJ. Analysis of the postulated interaction between the angiotensin II sub-type 1 receptor gene A1166C polymorphism and the insertion/deletion polymorphism of the angiotensin converting enzyme gene on risk of myocardial infarction. Atherosclerosis 2001; 154; 123-128.

Barlassina C, Norton GR, Samani NJ, Woodiwiss AJ, Candy G, Radevski I, Citterio L, Bianchi G, Cusi D. Alpha-adducin polymorphism in hypertensives of African ancestry. Am J Hypertens 2000; 13: 719-723.

Salame MY, Samani NJ, Masood I, de Bono DP. Expression of the plasminogen activator system I the human vascular wall. Atherosclerosis 2000; 152: 19-28.

Gunn M, Stephens JC, Thompson JR, Rathbone BJ, Samani NJ. Significant association of cagA positive Helicobacter pylori strains with risk of premature myocardial infarction. Heart 2000; 84: 267-271.

Patel S, Steeds R, Channer K, Samani NJ. Analysis of promoter region polymorphism in the aldosterone synthase gene (CYP11B2) as a risk factor for myocardial infarction. Am J Hypertens 2000; 13: 134-139.

Sensky PR, Jivan A, Hudson NM, Keal RP, Morgan B, Tranter JL, de Bono DP, Samani NJ, Cherryman GR. Coronary artery disease: Combined stress magnetic resonance imaging protocol - One stop evaulation of myocardial perfusion. Radiology 2000; 215: 608-614.

Candy G, Samani NJ, Norton G, Woodiwiss A, Radevski I, Wheatley A, Cockroft J, Hall IP. Association analysis of ß2 adrenoreceptor polymorphisms with hypertension in a Black African population. J Hypertens 2000; 18: 167-172.

Review articles and editorials

Samani NJ. Pharmacogenomics of hypertension: a realisable goal? Clin Sci 2000; 99: 231-232.

Samani NJ. Genome scans for hypertension and blood pressure regulation. Am J Hypertens 2003; 16: 167-171.

Khunti K, Samani NJ. Improving the delivery of coronary care for ethnic minorities. Heart 2003 89:479-480.

Book chapters

Samani NJ, Singh R. Molecular genetics of acute coronary syndromes. In: Current challenges in acute coronary syndromes. De Bono DP, Sobel E (eds). Blackwell Science, Oxford, 2001: 81-98.

Gauguier D, Samani NJ. Approaches to the analysis of complex quantitative phenotypes and marker map construction based on the analysis of rat models of hypertension. Methods Mol Biol. 2002;195: 225-251.

Samani NJ. Genetics of Hypertension. Oxford Textbook of Medicine. 4th Edition. Warrell DA, Cox TM, Firth JD, Benz EJ (eds). Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003: 1160-1164.

Last updated: 18/8/05
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