Dr Thomas Jepps

In 2013, Thomas received his PhD from St George’s, University of London, for investigating pharmacological modulators of arterial voltage-gated Kv7 channels. This research showed that Kv7 channel function is compromised in arteries from hypertensive animal models. Following his PhD, Thomas moved to the University of Copenhagen and acquired a Marie Curie EU and Lundbeck Foundation fellowship. During these fellowships, Thomas became interested in the trafficking of Kv7 channels, which led him to investigate the role of the microtubule network in vascular smooth muscle. He acquired further funding for this research from the Carlsberg Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation Young Investigator Award. Using pharmacological disruptors of the microtubule network (e.g. colchicine) and dynein inhibitors (ciliobrevins), Thomas revealed novel roles of microtubules and the dynein motor protein in arterial smooth muscle. The results of Thomas’ preclinical studies have instigated 2 clinical trials investigating the effect of colchicine in hypertensive patients. Thomas now runs the Vascular Biology Group, which is focused on revealing novel pharmacological treatments for hypertension.