Professor Allan Gaw

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Professor Allan Gaw - Biography

MD, PhD, FRCPath, FFPM, PGCert Med Ed

After graduating in Medicine from the University of Glasgow in 1984 I trained in Clinical Biochemistry before specialising in Clinical Lipidology when I held the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study Lectureship for three years.

On completion of my Ph.D., which focussed on the metabolic mechanisms of cholesterol lowering drugs, I spent two years post doctoral study funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in the laboratories of the Nobel Laureates, Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown in Dallas, Texas. During that time I worked on the molecular genetics of familial cholesterol disorders.

I returned to the UK to take up a position which was funded by a BHF Intermediate Fellowship, in the Department of Pathological Biochemistry at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

My current interests are the study of cholesterol lowering drug therapies, the primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease prevention in the elderly, the design and conduct of clinical trials and medical education.

In 1997 I was appointed Deputy Study Director of PROSPER and in 2000 I took over the leadership of the Clinical Trials Unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

In 2006 I was appointed Director of Operations of the Glasgow Clinical Research Facility.

In 2011 I was appointed Director of the Clinical Research Facility at Queen's University, Belfast

I am the author of over 145 original papers, reviews and book chapters on cholesterol and coronary heart disease and clinical trials, and have authored or edited 14 textbooks on subjects such as Clinical Biochemistry, Coronary Heart Disease Prevention, the Pharmacology of the Statins, Statins in General Practice, Lipids and Atherosclerosis and the Use of Statins in Stroke Prevention.