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Professor Patricia B Munroe

Patricia B

Professor of Molecular Medicine and Centre Lead for Clinical Pharmacology and Precision Medicine

Centre: Clinical Pharmacology and Precision Medicine

Email: p.b.munroe@qmul.ac.uk
Telephone: +44(0) 20 7882 3586
Twitter: @munroe_patsy

Profile

ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4176-2947 

Patricia graduated with a B.Sc. in Biochemistry, and M.Sc. in Biotechnology from the University of Galway, Ireland. She then worked at the Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories for six months before commencing a PhD in cardiovascular genetics at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Patricia was awarded a PhD in Medicine in 1995 and following successful post-doctoral fellowships at University College London (NIH funded), she joined the William Harvey Research Institute as a Lecturer in 1998. In 2007 she was appointed Professor of Molecular Medicine.

Prof Munroe’s lab investigates the molecular basis of cardiac arrythmia’s, hypertension and heart failure. Our research includes genomic studies of cardiovascular risk factors as a route for elucidating disease mechanisms, the development of ‘omic biomarkers and clinical models for improved risk prediction, pharmacogenetics and personalised medicine.

She co-leads several international complex genetic disease consortia. Using meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and large-scale candidate gene studies she has discovered over 1000 genetic loci associated with hypertension.  She has also identified hundreds of genetic loci for the electrocardiogram and cardiac magnetic resonance measures of heart structure and function.  . As a member of the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium she co-leads projects leading to the discovery of loci for electrocardiogram markers and gene x environment interactions for cardiovascular risk factors. She is the Director of the Genome Centre at FMD and an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, The University of Toledo, USA.

She was listed as a Highly Cited Researcher by Thomson Reuters in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 (Top 1% in Molecular Biology & Genetics). She was elected as a Fellow of Academy of Medical Sciences in 2021.

Research

Group members

Research staff: Dr Chris Bell, Dr Helen Warren, Dr Will Young
PhD students: Hafiz Naderi, Richard Burns, Sandra Machlitt-Northen, Victoria Taylor-Bateman, Aled Jones, Mihir Sanghvi

Summary 

My research group investigates the molecular basis of cardiac arrythmia’s, hypertension and heart failure.

Gene discovery projects for blood pressure, heart rate, ECG markers, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging markers and cardiometabolic traits. We perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS), exome and whole gene sequencing analyses to find new loci and detailed bioinformatic analyses to locate likely causative genetic variants and genes.

Functional studies of candidate genes from GWAS via excellent collaborations we use molecular, cellular biology techniques and “in vitro” models to understand the function of candidate genes from our work.

Risk modelling for cardiovascular disease. We are developing and testing polygenic risk scores and clinical models for improved risk prediction for cardiac arrhythmias, hypertension and heart failure and are using Mendelian Randomisation for assessing causal relationships.

Pharmacogenetics. Our focus is on blood pressure / anti-hypertensive drugs, lipids / statins). We perform GWAS and work closely with international pharmacogenetics consortia (ICAPS, CHARGE – PGX working group, and Genomic Investigation of Statin Therapy (GIST) consortium).

Key Publications

Full list of publications

*denotes joint first or last author and # denotes the corresponding author.

  1. Genome-wide association analysis reveals insights into the genetic architecture of right ventricular structure and function. Aung N, Vargas JD, Yang C, Fung K, Sanghvi MM, Piechnik SK, Neubauer S, Manichaikul A, Rotter JI, Taylor KD, Lima JAC, Bluemke DA, Kawut SM, Petersen SE, Munroe PB. Nat Genet. 2022 Jun;54(6):783-791. doi: 10.1038/s41588-022-01083-2. Epub 2022 Jun 13.PMID: 35697868
  2. ECG T-Wave Morphologic Variations Predict Ventricular Arrhythmic Risk in Low- and Moderate-Risk Populations. Ramírez J, Kiviniemi A, van Duijvenboden S, Tinker A, Lambiase PD, Junttila J, Perkiömäki JS, Huikuri HV, Orini M, Munroe PB. J Am Heart Assoc. 2022 Sep 6;11(17):e025897. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.121.025897. Epub 2022 Aug 29.PMID: 36036209 Share
  3. Genetic analyses of the electrocardiographic QT interval and its components identify additional loci and pathways. Young WJ, Lahrouchi N, Isaacs A, Duong T, Foco L, Ahmed F, Brody JA, Salman R, Noordam R, Benjamins JW, Haessler J, Lyytikäinen LP, Repetto L, Concas MP, van den Berg ME, Weiss S, Baldassari AR, Bartz TM, Cook JP, Evans DS, Freudling R, Hines O, Isaksen JL, Lin H, Mei H, Moscati A, Müller-Nurasyid M, Nursyifa C, Qian Y, Richmond A, Roselli C, Ryan KA, Tarazona-Santos E, Thériault S, van Duijvenboden S, Warren HR, Yao J, Raza D, Aeschbacher S, Ahlberg G, Alonso A, Andreasen L, Bis JC, Boerwinkle E, Campbell A, Catamo E, Cocca M, Cutler MJ, Darbar D, De Grandi A, De Luca A, Ding J, Ellervik C, Ellinor PT, Felix SB, Froguel P, Fuchsberger C, Gögele M, Graff C, Graff M, Guo X, Hansen T, Heckbert SR, Huang PL, Huikuri HV, Hutri-Kähönen N, Ikram MA, Jackson RD, Junttila J, Kavousi M, Kors JA, Leal TP, Lemaitre RN, Lin HJ, Lind L, Linneberg A, Liu S, MacFarlane PW, Mangino M, Meitinger T, Mezzavilla M, Mishra PP, Mitchell RN, Mononen N, Montasser ME, Morrison AC, Nauck M, Nauffal V, Navarro P, Nikus K, Pare G, Patton KK, Pelliccione G, Pittman A, Porteous DJ, Pramstaller PP, Preuss MH, Raitakari OT, Reiner AP, Ribeiro ALP, Rice KM, Risch L, Schlessinger D, Schotten U, Schurmann C, Shen X, Shoemaker MB, Sinagra G, Sinner MF, Soliman EZ, Stoll M, Strauch K, Tarasov K, Taylor KD, Tinker A, Trompet S, Uitterlinden A, Völker U, Völzke H, Waldenberger M, Weng LC, Whitsel EA, Wilson JG, Avery CL, Conen D, Correa A, Cucca F, Dörr M, Gharib SA, Girotto G, Grarup N, Hayward C, Jamshidi Y, Järvelin MR, Jukema JW, Kääb S, Kähönen M, Kanters JK, Kooperberg C, Lehtimäki T, Lima-Costa MF, Liu Y, Loos RJF, Lubitz SA, Mook-Kanamori DO, Morris AP, O'Connell JR, Olesen MS, Orini M, Padmanabhan S, Pattaro C, Peters A, Psaty BM, Rotter JI, Stricker B, van der Harst P, van Duijn CM, Verweij N, Wilson JF, Arking DE, Ramirez J, Lambiase PD, Sotoodehnia N, Mifsud B, Newton-Cheh C, Munroe PB. Nat Commun. 2022 Sep 1;13(1):5144. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32821-z.PMID: 36050321 Free PMC article.
  4. Discovery of rare variants associated with blood pressure regulation through meta-analysis of 1.3 million individuals. Surendran P, Feofanova EV, Lahrouchi N, Ntalla I, Karthikeyan S, Cook J, Chen L, Mifsud B, et al.  Boerwinkle E, Chasman DI, Levy D, Newton-Cheh C, Munroe PB*#, Howson JMM*#. Nat Genet. 2020 Dec;52(12):1314-1332.
  5. Common Genetic Variants Modulate the Electrocardiographic Tpeak-to-Tend Interval. Ramírez J, van Duijvenboden S, Young WJ, Orini M, Lambiase PD*, Munroe PB#*, Tinker A#*. Am J Hum Genet. 2020 Jun 4;106(6):764-778.
  6. Genetic Basis and Prognostic Value of Exercise QT Dynamics. van Duijvenboden S, Ramírez J, Young WJ, Mifsud B, Orini M, Tinker A*, Munroe PB#*, Lambiase PD#*. Circ Genom Precis Med. 2020 Aug;13(4):e002774. 
  7. The Effect of Blood Lipids on the Left Ventricle: A Mendelian Randomization Study. Aung N, Sanghvi MM, Piechnik SK, Neubauer S, Munroe PB*, Petersen SE*. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020 Nov 24;76(21):2477-2488.
  8. Cardiovascular Predictive Value and Genetic Basis of Ventricular Repolarization Dynamics. Ramírez J, van Duijvenboden S, Aung N, Laguna P, Pueyo E, Tinker A, Lambiase PD, Orini M, Munroe PB#*. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2019 Oct;12(10):e007549.
  9. Multi-ancestry GWAS of the electrocardiographic PR interval identifies 202 loci underlying cardiac conduction. Ntalla I*, Weng LC*, Cartwright JH, Hall AW, et al. Lubitz SA*#, Munroe PB*#. Nat Commun. 2020 May 21;11(1):2542.
  10. Genome-Wide Analysis of Left Ventricular Image-Derived Phenotypes Identifies Fourteen Loci Associated With Cardiac Morphogenesis and Heart Failure Development. Aung N, Vargas, JD, Yang C, Cabrera CP, Warren HR, FungK, Tzanis E, Barnes MR, Rotter JI, Taylor KD, Manichaikul AW, Lima JAC, Bluemke DA, Piechnik SK, Neubauer, Munroe PB*#, Petersen SE*#. Circulation. 2019 Oct 15;140(16):1318-1330.
  11. Johnson T#., Gaunt TR., - 99 co-authors -., Samani NJ., Caulfield MJ., Munroe PB#. ‘Blood Pressure Loci Identified with a Gene-Centric Array’. American Journal of Human Genetics. 2011. Dec 9;89(6):688-700. 
  12. Georg B. Ehret*, Patricia B. Munroe*## then 345 co-authors then Bruce M. Psaty*, Gonçalo R Abecasis*, Aravinda Chakravarti*, Paul Elliott*, Cornelia M. van Duijn*, Christopher Newton-Cheh*#, Daniel Levy*##, Mark J. Caulfield*##, Toby Johnson*. Genetic variants from novel pathways influence blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk. Nature 2011;478 (7367):103-9. Voted top 5 paper in CV research and number 1 in stroke by the American Heart Association.
  13. Louise V Wain*, then 246 co-authors- then Patricia B. Munroe*, Bruce Psaty*, Mark J Caulfield*, Dabeeru C Rao*, Martin D Tobin*#, Paul Elliott*#, Cornelia M van Duijn*#. Genome-wide association study identifies six new loci influencing pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure. Nature Genetics 2011; 43(10):1005-11.
  14. Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium. Genome-wide association study of CNVs in 16,000 cases of eight common diseases and 3,000 shared controls. Nature. 2010; 464 (7289):713-20.
  15. Christopher Newton-Cheh*#, then 165 co-authors then Mark Caulfield*#, Patricia B Munroe*#. Eight blood pressure loci identified by genome-wide association study of 34,433 people. Nature Genetics. 2009; 41:666-676. Voted American Heart Association Top ten paper in worldwide CV research in 2009.
  16. Caulfield MJ*, Patricia B. Munroe* et al. (2008) SLC2A9 is a high-capacity urate transporter in humans. PLoS Med. 2008; 5(9): e197.
  17. Wallace C., - 19 others -., Munroe PB#. ‘Genome-wide association study identifies genes for biomarkers of cardiovascular disease: serum urate and dyslipidemia’. American Journal of Human Genetics. 2008, 82(1), (2008), 139-49.
  18. Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium. Genome-wide association study of 14,000 cases of seven common diseases and 3,000 shared controls. Nature. 2007; 447:661-678. Voted Best Scientific Research Paper in the World in 2007 (by both Nature and Science).

Sponsors

Collaborators

Internal

Prof Andy Tinker; Prof Steffen Petersen; Prof Mike Barnes; Prof Mark Caulfield; Prof Adrian Hobbs; Dr Claudia Cabrera; Prof Amrita Ahluwalia; Dr Caroline Roney; Prof Michael Pluess

External

Prof Pier Lambiase (UCL); Prof Andrew Morris (University of Manchester); Prof Alistair Young (Kings College); Dr Chris Newton-Cheh (Harvard University); Dr Borbala Mifsud (University of Qatar); Prof Nona Sotoodehnia (University of Washington, USA); Dr DC Rao (Washington University, USA); Dr Rosanne Jepson (Royal Veterinary College); Prof Shu Ye (Leicester); Professor Nilesh Samani (Leicester University) 

Electrogenomics Group – collaboration with UCL for studies attempting to unravel the electrical and genetic causes of cardiovascular mortality. 

Visit the Electrogenomics Group webpage

News

Disclosures

No disclosures.

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