Professor Paul Riley

Paul is BHF Professor of Regenerative Medicine and Director of the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Oxford.

His research interests span cardiovascular developmental biology and modelling congenital heart disease, through to cardiac regeneration and seeking ways to induce endogenous repair of the heart following acute myocardial infarction and during the progression to heart failure.

Paul’s group have pioneered studies on targeting re-activation of the adult epicardium to induce resident cell-based repair and modulation of the innate immune response following ischaemic injury by pharmacologically promoting immune cell trafficking though the cardiac lymphatic system.

Identification of distinct functional immune cell subsets through this approach has led to therapeutic strategies to induce lymphatic vessel growth post-MI, specifically targeting pro-fibrotic macrophages to improve outcome in animal models.

Conditioning the local injury environment, by modulating inflammation and fibrosis, is a key focus of REACT and forms the basis of phenotypic screenings to identify novel nucleic acid therapies targeting these specific indications. 

Leveraging the significant funder investment, wide breadth expertise and multi-disciplinarity across REACT provides the basis for genuine optimism around translating our discovery science into patients.