Hi Professor Ferro and Welcome to “Pharmacologist In Phrame”!
Interviewed by Dr Aisah Aubdool _ Jan 2026
Albert Ferro studied Medicine at King’s College London (1978-1984), obtaining a 1st Class Honours intercalated BSc degree in Biochemistry in 1981 along the way. After qualifying, and following training as a junior doctor in medicine, he did his PhD in Clinical Pharmacology at Cambridge University. Since that time, his research and clinical interest have both focussed on the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. He has been a Consultant Physician at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals in London since 1996, and was appointed Professor of Cardiovascular Clinical Pharmacology at King’s College London in 2009.
Professor Ferro is ex-Vice-President (2005-2007) of the British Pharmacological Society (Clinical Section). He is currently Associate Medical Director for Written Examinations at the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians UK, and previously chaired the Royal College of Physicians Joint Specialty Committee on Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2011-2016). He served as Chair of the London Cardiovascular Society between 2005 and 2009, of which he remains a committee member. He is a fellow of a number of professional societies, as well as serving on the Editorial Boards of several medical and cardiovascular scientific journals. He runs a hypertension clinic at Guy’s and St Thomas’.
The main focus of his present research is on the role of platelet-monocyte interactions and of inflammation in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, and novel therapeutic targets for atherosclerosis targeting these processes. He has published nearly 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Could you tell us about your background and the journey that led you from medical training at King’s College London to a career in clinical pharmacology?
As with a lot of medical students, I started off with very little idea of what branch of medicine I would go into as an adult! I very quickly realised during our cardiology attachments however, that I was very drawn to cardiovascular disease – not only is it very common and an leading cause of death and disability across the world, but the heart itself is a fascinating organ. The mere fact that the heart beats around 100,000 times per day, or around 2-3 billion times in an average lifetime, is mind boggling – and the mechanical details of how it contracts are really intricate. I therefore decided to train in cardiology. My other great passion at the time was to get involved in research – and academic cardiology was not nearly as big then as it is now. Through a chance meeting with Professor Morris Brown, who at the time was Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at Cambridge, and who was (and still is) very prominent in the field of hypertension (especially adrenal hypertension), I applied to the MRC for funding to do a PhD. That is where my clinical pharmacology career got started – and the rest, as they say, is history!
How has your shift from cardiology to clinical pharmacology shaped your career as a clinical academic?
Clinical pharmacology is one of those specialties that most doctors in training don’t think of going into – and in fact some have never even heard of the specialty. I certainly hadn’t thought of it as a career until I met Morris. For me, it was a great choice, especially since my favourite subjects as a preclinical undergraduate medic were biochemistry and pharmacology. It has served me well. Following my PhD at Cambridge, I worked as a Senior Registrar in Clinical Pharmacology at the Hammersmith Hospital, before moving to my present post (at UMDS, subsequently part of King’s College London) in 1996 – initially as a Senior Lecturer, then Reader and finally Professor. I have become involved with some excellent research projects, worked with some wonderful colleagues and collaborators, and had really rewarding interactions with students (both medical and bioscience students), as well as running a hypertension clinic at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals.
What first sparked your interest in understanding the mechanisms of cardiovascular disease, particularly atherosclerosis and hypertension?
Well before preventative medicine was as prominent as it is nowadays (it is now a central plank of the NHS 10 year plan), I realised that early treatment of silent cardiovascular disease was really important – to prevent silent disease from becoming no longer silent. Hypertension affects roughly 1 in 3 of the adult population, and most people with it have no symptoms. If untreated, patients may first come to medical attention with one of the complications, particularly stroke or myocardial infarction (both due to atherosclerosis). I therefore have dedicated most of my clinical efforts into what might be called preventative cardiology, and my research into better understanding the mechanisms of atherosclerosis, identifying new treatment targets, and detecting silent atherosclerosis at an early stage.
You have been involved in a clinical trial using a cysteine-X-cysteine chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2) inhibitor to modulate neutrophil homing. Could you tell us more about this translational aspect of your research?
CXCR2 is crucial to the guiding of immune cells, particularly neutrophils, to sites of inflammation. Much recent research has shown that atherosclerosis is not only a disease of cholesterol accumulation but also of inflammation in the arteries – and neutrophils are intimately involved in the inflammatory component of atherosclerosis, and especially in the context of unstable atheromatous plaques (which cause its thrombotic complications). We therefore undertook a randomised double blind placebo-controlled trial, in conjunction with AstraZeneca, of a CXCR2 inhibitor in patients with coronary heart disease undergoing stenting, to look at a variety of surrogate outcomes. Unfortunately the trial was interrupted partway through by the COVID pandemic, resulting in our having to suspend the study, and after the pandemic we could no longer get supplies of the drug; so sadly we were unable to complete this trial!
What drew you to long standing areas like endothelial nitric oxide regulation, and how does this tie into your broader research on cardiovascular inflammation?
I’ve always been fascinated by the endothelium. It lines all blood vessels, is only one cell layer thick – and yet it is so vital in the control of vascular function. So much so that endothelial dysfunction is associated with all manner of cardiovascular diseases (though what is cause and what is effect remains the subject of some controversy). What is clear is that generation of nitric oxide as well as other endothelium-derived mediators such as prostacyclin are essential for cardiovascular health, and have marked anti-inflammatory actions. A lack of these mediators predisposes individuals to progression of atherosclerotic disease.
What does a typical day look like for you, balancing clinics, teaching, research meetings, and national responsibilities?
I may be doing a clinic in the morning, lecturing in the afternoon and rounding the day off with a meeting with my research team. I also have a role outside of the university and NHS trust, as Associate Medical Director for Written Exams at the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians UK – so I oversee national postgraduate physician exams such as the MRCP(UK) and Specialty Certificate Exams. So somewhere in my day I might have to fit in a meeting to review past exams or plan for future ones. One thing is sure: no day is ever dull in my job!
What do you enjoy most about the variety within your clinical and academic responsibilities?
I think it’s fair to say that my job is uniquely varied in the things that I do. I consider myself very lucky in that regard. For many – perhaps most – people in the world, their job involves doing the same or very similar things every day; and that is a sure fire recipe for boredom and job dissatisfaction in the long term. So it is really the variety that I love in my job, since no two days are ever the same. It keeps me on my toes and rewards my mesolimbic system! Also, crucially I enjoy every facet of what I do: none of it is a chore.
How do you maintain a work:life balance?
Although I enjoy my work and it gives me fulfilment, I do fully realise that it is unhealthy to live for work alone. It is important to have a life outside of work, where you can switch off and do other things. So I have a family and make sure I devote time to be with them, both physically and emotionally (and that is especially important when you have young children – input and presence from both parents is so crucial for their wellbeing). On top of that, I make sure I indulge my hobbies: singing in a choir (I’m a baritone) and playing tennis (which I do eagerly, but badly). I’m also a bit of an amateur astronomer, though I have to admit I have not found much time for that recently – although it may have something also to do with the unsociability of it (in the winter it can be bitterly cold to sit outside with your telescope, and in the summer you can’t see anything until it’s very late because of the ambient light!).
One other thing I have taken up in the last couple of years is chairing a charity called the Healthy Heart Trust (https://healthyhearttrust.com). This is a small charity whose mission is to spread awareness and understanding about prevention of cardiovascular disease to the public. We have recently started producing a series of podcasts aimed at the public on a variety of important cardiovascular topics (these can be found on any standard podcast platform under “Healthy Heart Trust”). We also produce occasional webinars on important topics aimed at health professionals – links to recordings can be found on our website. Although this role adds busy-ness to my life, I feel that it is a very worthwhile initiative and like to think that it is doing good in terms of promoting public information.
What are your views on the importance of experimental models; both cellular and in vivo in advancing understanding of atherosclerosis and inflammation?
I think it’s fair to say that no experimental model, in vitro, ex vivo or in vivo, can entirely mimic the human situation or human disease. So the ultimate test of the utility of any new therapeutic is always going to have to be in the human. Having said that, no drug can ever be tested straight off the bench in humans – preclinical data showing efficacy and lack of toxicity are always going to be needed, despite the lack of exact correspondence in the models. That is true not just in atherosclerosis and inflammation, but also in just about any disease process you can think of.
How have mentors shaped your scientific journey, and what do you think matters most when choosing a mentor at different career stages?
Mentors have been crucial in my scientific career. When you are working your way through your career, you will often have absolutely no idea if you are doing things right, if your choices (career and otherwise) are the right ones, and what factors you need to consider when making those choices. Having a mentor who has gone through the same – or at least a similar – journey to you is so important in helping to ensure you make sensible choices. I think by the way that, even when you are an old timer like me, it is still immensely valuable to have someone else who understands your journey to bounce off ideas and worries.
You teach both medical and pharmacology students. What do you find most rewarding about mentoring emerging scientists and clinicians?
I love to see students being enthused with the subject I am teaching them. Even more rewarding is to see them having advanced in their careers – and especially if they have chosen to go into pharmacology, clinical pharmacology or cardiovascular medicine (and if they tell me that I was the reason they chose their particular path)! Irrespective of that, I really value being in a position to guide younger researchers and clinicians based on my (many!) years of experience – I am a personal tutor to 16 students at the moment, overseeing their pastoral care and needs throughout their university journey, and that is an aspect of my job that I find particularly rewarding.
What advice would you give to young people interested in studying pharmacology or pursuing clinical academic training?
Academia, whether nonclinical or clinical, is not an easy route – but I have always felt that the people who succeed in that path are those who are particularly ardent about their subject. So my advice is, if you have the passion for pharmacology or clinical academia (which would include, but is not restricted to, clinical pharmacology), then go for it! It will make for a very rewarding career, and you will get there. Also bear in mind that academia is not the only route – and if you end up deciding that it is not the path you wish to tread, your studies will open up numerous other possibilities, including in the pharmaceutical industry, which can be greatly fulfilling in a different way.
Rapid-Fire Round with Professor Albert Ferro.
Favourite book? Orbital by Samantha Harvey. An exquisite and reflective portrayal of the lives of different astronauts on the International Space Station.
Favourite Movie? La La Land.
Favourite Scientist? Carl Sagan. Really fired up my passion for all things astronomical.
Sweet or savoury? Depends on how I’m feeling at the time. OK, sweet I guess!
Tea or Coffee? Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon and evening.
