Hugh Montgomery (physician)

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Hugh Montgomery
OBE
Born
Hugh Edward Montgomery

(1962-10-20) 20 October 1962 (age 61) [1]
Alma mater Middlesex Hospital Medical School
Known for
"Fitness gene"
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine
Institutions University College London
Website twitter.com/hugh_montgomery

Hugh Edward Montgomery OBE (born 20 October 1962) is an English professor of medicine and the director of the Centre for Human Health and Performance at University College London. He discovered that an allele of the gene with the DNA code for angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) influences physical fitness; this was the first discovery of a gene related to fitness. [2] [3]

Contents

Academic career

Montgomery was educated at Plymouth College. He obtained a 1st Class BSc degree in 1984 in neuropharmacology and cardiorespiratory physiology, before qualifying as a medical doctor in July 1987 from the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, University of London. [4] He was awarded the prize as most outstanding student during this time. In 1997, he was awarded his higher research degree (MDRes) for work on paracrine renin-angiotensin systems. He now directs the UCL centre for Human Health and Performance. He has authored nearly 500 research papers in journals such as Nature, The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine. [2] [5] [6] [7] [8] and has received 11 national and international awards. His work has ranged from the development and application of gene-environment interaction studies (reporting the 'first gene for human physical performance'), to population genetic studies (being amongst the first to identify signatures of selection for high altitude amongst Tibetans) and work in artificial intelligence. He was research lead for the 2008 Xtreme Everest research expedition. He co-chairs the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, having co-chaired several previous commissions on the subject.

He is a Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at UCL and practises as a consultant in critical care at the Whittington Hospital in north London. [9] [10]

Montgomery was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to intensive care medicine and climate change. [11]

Covid-19 Pandemic

Montgomery is an established and outspoken critic of people taking public healthcare risks during the Coronavirus pandemic. He aired his concerns publicly during the first wave of COVID-19 infections both in the UK and Australia. During these televised interviews he answered questions and issued advice on the subject.

During the UK's second wave of COVID-19 cases, in interviews with the BBC Radio 5 Live and Channel 4 news, Montgomery strongly criticized the public for not practising social distancing and wearing masks, declaring them as "having blood on their hands". [12] [13]

Other interests

Montgomery held a Cat X skydiving qualification, and also an HSE Pt IV commercial diving licence. He is a keen snorkeller and mountain walker, and has climbed in the Himalaya (Cho Oyu, 8201m, 2006; Pumori), the European Alps, and the Andes (Aconcagua, 6997m).

Montgomery has been awarded the title of London Leader by the London Sustainable Development Commission for his work in climate change and health under the auspices of Project Genie; he was also a founding member of the UK Climate and Health Council and one of the co-authors of the UCL-Lancet Commission in 2009. Montgomery has complemented his interest in fitness with achievements which include the 100 km ultra marathons, holding the world record for underwater piano playing as well as visiting Everest with the Xtreme Everest research group to undertake research. [14]

He was the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Open Access journal Extreme Physiology & Medicine published by BioMed Central. [15]

Montgomery is the author of the children's book The Voyage of the Arctic Tern . [16] He has also authored the children's book Cloudsailors and, in 2019, the medical thriller 'Control', described by Lynda la Plante as 'A suspenseful and frightening medical thriller'.

He is an inventor, holding patents relating to new uses for renin-angiotensin antagonists in metabolic regulation; for a new fluid delivery device; and for a new asthma inhaler device.

Awards and honours

He appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in 2014, and was the subject of The Life Scientific in 2012.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ACE inhibitor</span> Class of medications used primarily to treat high blood pressure

Angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors are a class of medication used primarily for the treatment of high blood pressure and heart failure. This class of medicine works by causing relaxation of blood vessels as well as a decrease in blood volume, which leads to lower blood pressure and decreased oxygen demand from the heart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angiotensin</span> Group of peptide hormones in mammals

Angiotensin is a peptide hormone that causes vasoconstriction and an increase in blood pressure. It is part of the renin–angiotensin system, which regulates blood pressure. Angiotensin also stimulates the release of aldosterone from the adrenal cortex to promote sodium retention by the kidneys.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angiotensin-converting enzyme</span> Mammalian protein found in humans

Angiotensin-converting enzyme, or ACE, is a central component of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS), which controls blood pressure by regulating the volume of fluids in the body. It converts the hormone angiotensin I to the active vasoconstrictor angiotensin II. Therefore, ACE indirectly increases blood pressure by causing blood vessels to constrict. ACE inhibitors are widely used as pharmaceutical drugs for treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

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Angiotensin II receptor type 1(AT1) is a Gq/11-coupled G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and the best characterized angiotensin receptor. It is encoded in humans by the AGTR1 gene. AT1 has vasopressor effects and regulates aldosterone secretion. It is an important effector controlling blood pressure and volume in the cardiovascular system. Angiotensin II receptor blockers are drugs indicated for hypertension, diabetic nephropathy and congestive heart failure.

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References

  1. ↑ "Montgomery, Prof. Hugh Edward". Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press.(subscription required)
  2. 1 2 Montgomery, H. E.; Marshall, R.; Hemingway, H.; Myerson, S.; Clarkson, P.; Dollery, C.; Hayward, M.; Holliman, D. E.; Jubb, M.; World, M.; Thomas, E. L.; Brynes, A. E.; Saeed, N.; Barnard, M.; Bell, J. D.; Prasad, K.; Rayson, M.; Talmud, P. J.; Humphries, S. E. (1998). "Human gene for physical performance". Nature. 393 (6682): 221–2. Bibcode:1998Natur.393..221M. doi:10.1038/30374. PMID   9607758. S2CID   12806966.
  3. ↑ Prof Hugh Montgomery UCL Archived 24 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "List of Registered Medical Practitioners (The online Register)". General Medical Council . Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  5. ↑ Hugh Montgomery's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  6. ↑ Grocott, M. P.; Martin, D. S.; Levett, D. Z.; McMorrow, R; Windsor, J; Montgomery, H. E.; Caudwell Xtreme Everest Research Group (2009). "Arterial blood gases and oxygen content in climbers on Mount Everest" (PDF). New England Journal of Medicine. 360 (2): 140–9. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0801581. PMID   19129527.
  7. ↑ Fox, K. M.; EURopean trial On reduction of cardiac events with Perindopril in stable coronary Artery disease Investigators (2003). "Efficacy of perindopril in reduction of cardiovascular events among patients with stable coronary artery disease: Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial (the EUROPA study)". The Lancet. 362 (9386): 782–788. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14286-9. PMID   13678872. S2CID   25149680.
  8. ↑ Costello, A.; Abbas, M.; Allen, A.; Ball, S.; Bell, S.; Bellamy, R.; Friel, S.; Groce, N.; Johnson, A.; Kett, M.; Lee, M.; Levy, C.; Maslin, M.; McCoy, D.; McGuire, B.; Montgomery, H.; Napier, D.; Pagel, C.; Patel, J.; De Oliveira, J. A. P.; Redclift, N.; Rees, H.; Rogger, D.; Scott, J.; Stephenson, J.; Twigg, J.; Wolff, J.; Patterson, C. (2009). "Managing the health effects of climate change". The Lancet. 373 (9676): 1693–733. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60935-1. PMID   19447250. S2CID   205954939.
  9. ↑ "Iris View Profile".
  10. ↑ "Professor Hugh Montgomery".
  11. ↑ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N14.
  12. ↑ "Covid rule-breakers 'have blood on their hands'". BBC News. 31 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "'We're in real trouble now and if people decide to have one last fling, it might be their last' – intensive care doctor". 31 December 2020.
  14. ↑ Grocott, M. P.; Martin, D. S.; Wilson, M. H.; Mitchell, K; Dhillon, S; Mythen, M. G.; Montgomery, H. E.; Levett, D. Z.; Caudwell Xtreme Everest Research Group (2010). "Caudwell xtreme Everest expedition". High Altitude Medicine & Biology. 11 (2): 133–7. doi: 10.1089/ham.2009.1093 . PMID   20586597.
  15. ↑ Grocott, M. P.; Montgomery, H. E. (2012). "Extreme Physiology & Medicine: A new journal focussed on integrative human physiology under stress". Extreme Physiology & Medicine. 1 (1): 1. doi: 10.1186/2046-7648-1-1 . PMC   3707096 . PMID   23849731.
  16. ↑ Gordon, Bryony (11 June 2002). "I'm Always Adding Strings to My Bow". The Telegraph (U.K.). Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  17. ↑ Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2007: Back from the brink: the science of survival
  18. ↑ Hugh Montgomery address on Science & Environment, Royal Institution Unconference, September 2011
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