Professor Martin Bennett

We use both cells in vitro and models of atherosclerosis with genetic manipulation to study the role of specific gene products or cells in atherosclerosis. In particular, we developed unique cell-type ablation or expression systems to analyse the role of specific cells in vivo, particularly vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Recent work has focussed on the protective mechanisms that regulate VSMC survival and cell senescence, novel mechanisms of regulating cell death receptors in vascular cells, and how cell:cell interactions govern cell death and senescence. 

Our clinical studies have used radiofrequency (virtual histology) intravascular ultrasound and computed tomography to determine the types and composition of plaques that determine patient presentation and future events. Working with engineering we have shown that plaque stress is increased in high-risk plaques and greatly augments the predictive ability of intracoronary imaging. We have also built AI-based software for intracoronary OCT, validated its efficacy against post-mortem histology and both drug and natural history human studies, and raised over £1.9M for its commercialisation.