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Professor John Connell

Vice Principal & Head of the College of Medicine Dentistry and Nursing

Address:

University of Dundee, Medical School
The Deanery, Level 10
Ninewells Hospital and Medical School
Dundee
DD1 9SY

Telephone: 01382 632640

j.m.connell@dundee.ac.uk


  • Background

    • John Connell is Head of College of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing of College of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing of Medicine and Professor of Endocrinology at the University of Dundee. He trained in Medicine at the University of Glasgow (graduating with commendation in 1977) and his early clinical experience was gained in the West of Scotland. In 1983 he became a Clinical Scientist at the MRC Blood Pressure Unit in the Western Infirmary; from 1986 to 1987 he was an MRC Travelling Fellow at the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine in Melbourne, Australia. He was made Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow in 1994 and became Chairman of Endocrinology in 1996. From 1994 until 2010 he has had a series of MRC programme grants investigating the role of adrenal corticosteroids in Cardiovascular Disease. In 2008 he became Head of the Graduate School at the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Glasgow, reflecting his interest in training pathways for clinical academics.

    He is a member of Council of the Academic of Medical Sciences, and a Fellow for the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He has previously been on the Council of the Society for Endocrinology and was Clinical Chair of the annual meeting of the American Endocrine Society in 2009.

  • Research interests
    • He has had a long standing interest in the regulation of adrenal corticosteroids (Aldosterone and Cortisol) and in the role of these hormones in Cardiovascular Disease. In particular, his work focuses on the genes that control the late stages of synthesis of Aldosterone and Cortisol and how variation in these genes might predispose to cardiovascular risk. His work has been supported by a series of MRC Programme Grants, along with funding from the Wellcome Trust and the British Heart Foundation. His studies are characterised by a combination of major population investigations (including genome-wide investigation scans) and candidate gene studies in well phenotyped sub-groups. In addition, within his group there is a strong tradition of detailed molecular and cellular analysis on regulation of steroid synthesis. He has been Chair of the group of investigators that led the MRC-funded study on the genetic investigation of hypertension (MRC BRIGHT Study). Over his career he has published more than 250 peer reviewed articles. He was awarded the Croonian Lectureship of the Royal College of Physicians in 2004, the Society for Endocrinology Medal in 2005 and was the Clinical Endocrinology Trust Lecturer in 2008. He is currently the lead for research in the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing and leads the Tayside Academic Health Sciences Centre. He has a major interest in promoting translational research across the University of Dundee.
  • Teaching interests
    • John Connell is proud to be Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee, which ranks among the highest Medical Schools in the United Kingdom for the quality of its teaching a reputation of its clinical training. His main role in teaching and training is at Postgraduate level where he has had a close involvement in development of the Scottish Clinical Research Excellence Development Scheme for trainee clinical academics in Scotland. At present he sits on the national steering committee for that scheme, and has had a major interest in promoting the development of the Clinical Lecturer grade at the University of Dundee. Nationally, he currently Chairs the Board of Examiners for the exit examination for Endocrinology and Diabetes (MRCP part 3) and has been instrumental in developing this examination over the last few years.
  • Selected Recent Publications
    1. Weir RA, Miller AM, Murphy GE, Clements S, Steedman T, Connell JM, McInnes IB, Dargie HJ, McMurray JJ. Serum soluble ST2: a potential novel mediator in left ventricular and infarct remodeling after acute myocardial infarction. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010 Jan 19;55(3):243-50.
    2. Paul L, Hastie CE, Li WS, Harrow C, Muir S, Connell JM, Dominiczak AF, McInnes GT, Padmanabhan S. Resting heart rate pattern during follow-up and mortality in hypertensive patients. Hypertension. 2010 Feb;55(2):567-74. Epub 2009 Dec 28.
    3. Parthasarathy HK, Alhashmi K, McMahon AD, Struthers AD, McInnes GT, Ford I, Connell JM, MacDonald TM. Does the ratio of serum aldosterone to plasma rennin activity predict the efficacy of diuretics in hypertension? Results of RENALDO. J Hypertens. 2010 Jan;28(1):170-7.
    4. Ritchie SA, Kohlhaas CF, Boyd AR, Yalla KC, Walsh K, Connell JM, Salt IP. Insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase at serine-615 contributes to nitric oxide synthesis. Biochem J. 2010 Jan 27;426(1):85-90.
    5. Alvarez-Madrazo S, Padmanabhan S, Mayosi BM, Watkins H, Avery P, Wallace AM, Fraser R, Davies E, Keavney B, Connell JM. Familial and phenotypic associations of the aldosterone Renin ratio. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Nov;94(11):4324-33.Epub 2009 Oct 9.
    6. Freel EM, Tsorlalis IK, Lewsey JD, Latini R, Maggioni AP, Solomon S, Pitt B, Connell JM, McMurray JJ. Aldosterone status associated with insulin resistance in patients with heart failure--data from the ALOFT study. Heart. 2009 Dec;95(23):1920-4. Epub 2009 Aug 26.
    7. Newton-Cheh C, Johnson T, Gateva V, et al. Genome-wide association study identifies eight loci associated with blood pressure. Nat Genet. 2009 May 10. [Epub ahead of print]
    8. Reynolds RM, Walker BR, Phillips DI, Dennison EM, Fraser R, Mackenzie SM, Davies E, Connell JM. Programming of hypertension: associations of plasma aldosterone in adult men and women with birthweight, cortisol, and blood pressure. Hypertension. 2009 Jun;53(6):932-6. Epub 2009 Apr 20.
    9. Newhouse S, Farrall M, Wallace C, et al. Polymorphisms in the WNK1 gene are associated with blood pressure variation and urinary potassium excretion. PLoS One. 2009;4(4):e5003. Epub 2009 Apr 4.
    10. Org E, Eyheramendy S, Juhanson P, et al Genome-wide scan identifies CDH13 as a novel susceptibility locus contributing to blood pressure determination in two European populations. Hum Mol Genet. 2009 Jun 15;18(12):2288-96. Epub 2009 Mar 20.
    11. Willer CJ, Speliotes EK, Loos RJ, Li S, et al. Genetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits Consortium. Six new loci associated with body mass index highlight a neuronal influence on body weight regulation. Nat Genet. 2009 Jan;41(1):25-34. Epub 2008 Dec 14.
    12. Davies E, Mackenzie SM, Freel EM, Alvarez-Madrazo S, Fraser R, Connell JM. Altered corticosteroid biosynthesis in essential hypertension: A digenic phenomenon. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2009 Mar 5;300(1-2):185-91. Epub 2008 Sep 19.Review.
    13. Holloway CD, MacKenzie SM, Fraser R, Miller S, Barr M, Wilkinson D, Forbes GH, Friel E, Connell JM, Davies E. Effects of genetic variation in the aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) gene on enzyme function. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2009 Mar;70(3):363-71. Epub 2008 Aug 15.
    14. Lavery GG, Walker EA, Tiganescu A, Ride JP, Shackleton CH, Tomlinson JW, Connell JM, Ray DW, Biason-Lauber A, Malunowicz EM, Arlt W, Stewart PM. Steroid biomarkers and genetic studies reveal inactivating mutations in hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in patients with cortisone reductase deficiency. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Oct;93(10):3827-32. Epub 2008 Jul 15.
    15. Padmanabhan S, Melander O, Hastie C, Menni C, Delles C, Connell JM, Dominiczak AF. Hypertension and genome-wide association studies: combining high fidelity phenotyping and hypercontrols. J Hypertens. 2008 Jul;26(7):1275-81.
    16. MacKenzie SM, Huda SS, Sattar N, Fraser R, Connell JM, Davies E. Depot-specific steroidogenic gene transcription in human adipose tissue. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2008 Dec;69(6):848-54. Epub 2008 Apr 10.
    17. Connell JM, MacKenzie SM, Freel EM, Fraser R, Davies E. A lifetime of aldosterone excess: long-term consequences of altered regulation of aldosterone production for cardiovascular function. Endocr Rev. 2008 Apr;29(2):133-54. Epub 2008 Feb 21. Review.
    18. Ye P, Kenyon CJ, Mackenzie SM, Nichol K, Seckl JR, Fraser R, Connell JM, Davies E. Effects of ACTH, dexamethasone, and adrenalectomy on 11beta-hydroxylase (CYP11B1) and aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) gene expression in the rat central nervous system. J Endocrinol. 2008 Feb;196(2):305-11.
    19. MacKenzie SM, Dewar D, Stewart W, Fraser R, Connell JM, Davies E. The transcription of steroidogenic genes in the human cerebellum and hippocampus: a comparative survey of normal and Alzheimer's tissue. J Endocrinol. 2008 Jan;196(1):123-30.
    20. Freel EM, Ingram M, Wallace AM, White A, Fraser R, Davies E, Connell JM. Effect of variation in CYP11B1 and CYP11B2 on corticosteroid phenotype and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in hypertensive and normotensive subjects. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2008 May;68(5):700-6. Epub 2007 Nov 2.