Mary Joan Macleod MB ChB PhD FRCP has a personal Chair in Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Aberdeen, and is an Honorary Consultant Physician at NHS Grampian. Her main research interests are stroke epidemiology (particularly how service organisation and treatment affect outcomes after stroke), stroke clinical trials and stroke imaging (particularly low field MRI). She is responsible for assessment of the final year of the MBChB course. Other roles include 1:6 cover of acute stroke admissions, Chair of NHS Grampian/University of Aberdeen Clinical Studies Oversight Group, Clinical Lead of the Scottish Stroke Care Audit and Honorary Deputy Secretary of the British and Irish Association of Stroke Physicians. Former roles include Chair of Scotland A and B Research Ethics Committees.

Isla Mackenzie is Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Associate Dean for Research in the School of Medicine, University of Dundee. She is an Honorary Consultant Physician at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee and contributes to the cardiovascular risk clinical service. She has led several cardiovascular clinical trials and is a member of the BHF Clinical Studies Committee. In 2018, she was awarded the Grahame-Smith Prize for Clinical Pharmacology by the British Pharmacological Society for outstanding contributions to research in clinical pharmacology.

Christian Delles is Professor of Cardiovascular Prevention, Interim Director of the Institute for Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow, and Honorary Consultant Physician with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. His research is in the area of cardiovascular diseases where he studies markers for early diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy; the molecular basis of vascular diseases; the pathogenesis and long-term consequences of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and gestational diabetes; and differences in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases between men and women. Prof. Delles serves as Treasurer of the British and Irish Hypertension Society and Honorary Secretary of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland. He is a member of national and international grant panels and associate editor and editorial board member of leading cardiovascular journals. He has a keen interest in teaching and training and currently chairs the University's Clinical Academic Training Advisory Committee.

Bill Simpson was born and grew up in Glasgow. He studied medicine there, graduating in 1984, and continued to spend his early post graduate years around Central Scotland. In 1990 he moved to Aberdeen to finish his training in Chemical Pathology. As a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, he held a Consultant post in the Clinical Biochemistry Department of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary from 1997 to 2022. His main areas of clinical and research interest were lipids and nutrition. In 2006 he brought together some interested colleagues to form the Scottish Lipid Forum (SLF), the aim being to provide an educational programme and to develop and share strategies for the best treatment of hyperlipidaemias across Scotland. This proved quite popular, and was adopted as a vehicle for roll out of the screening programme for Familial Hypercholesterolaemia in Scotland. This opened up invitations to speak at locations from Aberdeen to Australia. Probably his most significant achievement was with a PowerPoint slide during a talk on FH in Westminster. The slide was completely blank, but the commentary, "What England is doing about FH", was taken as a wake up call by NHS England! Bill remains active in SLF and many of the other notable organisations for which he has held national roles: The Association for Clinical Pathologists (ACP) - Past President, Treasurer, and previously Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Chemical Pathology; the Association for Clinical Biochemistry (ACB) - Chair and Secretary of ACB Scotland, founding Chair of the Nutrition Group of the Clinical Practice Section; Academy of the Medical Royal Colleges - organiser of the Scottish Inter-Collegiate Nutrition Course; Royal College of Pathologists - Regional Tutor, Specialty Advisor, member of the National Quality Assurance Panel; HEART UK founder member and Champion for FH Scotland, and of course SHARP - previous co-Chair, long serving trustee, and currently treasurer.

GP with an interest in cardiology and respiratory medicine. GP Rep on Angus Adult Protection Committee. SRU Referee and International Time Keeper in my spare time, practising what I preach by keeping active. Trained under Dr TS Callaghan in Angus, when I learned how to do echocardiograms and had my own echo list at Arbroath infirmary in 2000-2001. Member of SHARP since 2001, Chair 2018/19. Member of the Angus CHP Cardiovascular Clinical Working Group from 2001, Chair from 2004-2016, during which I helped to deliver cardiovascular education at PLT and SHARP events. I was Angus Rep on the Tayside Cardiovascular MCN from 2010-2012, when I was Clinical Director for Angus CHP. GP on the SIGN Guideline 148 Acute Coronary Syndrome update in 2016.

Jill Belch is a Professor of Vascular Medicine at the University of Dundee, UK. She is a founder Trustee of SHARP and Founder Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Science and a Fellow of the Royal Society, Edinburgh. Her research interests centre on cardiovascular disease with especial reference to peripheral arterial disease (PAD), air pollution and the microvasculature. She is the Medical School’s Chair of the Sustainability committee, and co-chairs the short-term working group on Air Pollution at the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh. She is Immediate Past President of both the UK Section of Vascular Medicine at the Royal Society of Medicine and the European Society of Vascular Medicine (ESVM), for whom she also chairs the ESVM Guidelines Committee.

Professor Brady graduated in Medicine from Edinburgh University in 1985, summa cum laude. He trained in Cardiology at the Hammersmith Hospital, the London Chest Hospital and the National Heart and Lung Institute, London. During his research time Professor Brady won the British Cardiac Society Award and the American Heart Association Young Investigator Award. He was appointed Consultant Cardiologist to Glasgow Royal Infirmary in 1996. He is visiting Professor of Cardiology, Mayo Clinic; Visiting Professor of Cardiology, Cleveland Clinic; Visiting Professor of Cardiology, Public Health Foundation of India; Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong College of Cardiology, and Honorary Member of the Korean Society of Cardiology. Professor Brady’s major specialities are the clinical aspects and epidemiology of hypertension, coronary heart disease and pulmonary embolism. He was the principal investigator in four major UK studies (totalling 140,000 patients). He was the Principal Investigator for the UK in the IMPROVE-IT trial (TIMI 40) in acute coronary syndromes (ACS), and currently the KONA WAVE trial in renal denervation. Professor Brady has published >100 papers in medical research journals on the above subjects and also in basic cardiovascular biology. His textbook, “New Perspectives on Hypertension,” is now in its third edition. He is the Principal author of the Hypertension section of the current Mayo Clinic Textbook of Cardiology. Professor Brady has given over >200 invited national and international lectures including Plenary lectures at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the European Atherosclerosis Society, the American Heart Association, the Japanese Circulation Society, the French Cardiac Society, the National Societies of South Korea, Chile, Portugal, Hong Kong, Thailand, Norway, Denmark, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Egypt, the World Congress of Cardiology and the Mayo Clinic. Professor Brady represented the ESC on a lecture tour of China. Professor Brady was elected a Fellow of the American Heart Association in 2003, and the ESC in 2011. He is the Past President of the British and Irish Hypertension Society, past Chairman of the Guidelines Committee of the British Cardiovascular Society, past Chairman of SHARP, and represented the UK on the ESC Guidelines Development Group. Professor Brady was a principal author of the 2007 Scottish National Guideline for Coronary Heart Disease, the 2008 ESC Guideline on Pulmonary Embolism, and the 2010 SIGN Guideline for Venous Thromboembolism (VTE). He was an author of the 2018 European Guideline for Hypertension and will chair the forthcoming 2022 SIGN Guideline for VTE. Professor Brady conceived, developed and led the acclaimed Football Health Scotland study of dietary and lifestyle therapy in middle-aged men. Professor Brady is the clinical lead for this Scotland-wide project, linking football and health across the nation. His Channel 4 television programme about diet and blood pressure was screened in 2018.

Professor Cathal Breen is board-certified by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Clinical Scientist of Cardiac Physiology. His practice focuses cardiac diagnosis and technology enhanced learning. Cathal has almost 20 years’ experience working in academia, educating health and medical students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, supervising Masters and PhD projects. His PhD focused on the acquisition of expertise within the clinical domain and his published work demonstrates the impact smartphone applications, clinical decision support systems and augmented reality make to health professions education learning efficiency and knowledge retention. He currently leads the simulation and clinical skills department at Edinburgh Napier which facilitates Nursing, Midwifery, Allied Health Professions.

I am a member of the RCGP and I work as a GP in Aberdeen and have a keen interest in cardiovascular disease and prevention as I understand the impact disease has on families after losing my father to a heart attack when he was 42 and fit and well before his death. I have designed in practice protocols to ensure optimal cardiovascular prevention strategies are implemented by the MDT. I have a lifelong interest in education having started life studying Biochemistry in Dundee and went on to do a Ph.D in biochemistry and molecular biology in Dundee. In my thirties I went on to study medicine in Aberdeen and I along with 7 Allied health professionals set up the first interprofessional education conference in Aberdeen. I value being a trustee of SHARP, promoting cardiovascular education for all.

Morven is a cardiology nurse with almost 30 years of experience in a plethora of speciality clinical roles involving establishing and running innovative person-centred cardiology services such as a nurse led atrial fibrillation service. She has worked nationally for the British Heart Foundation testing, implementing, and supporting development new pathways of care. She is passionate about education and has worked in healthcare education in both further education & university settings. She led the codesign of the implementation plan of Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme, in collaboration with those with lived experience, clinicians and service providers. She currently works in Forth Valley as the Quality and Safety Lead with a passion of supporting codesign improvement of care with service users.

A Sports Medicine background in Glasgow established Brian’s interest and passion for evidence based medicine, healthcare and policy. With twenty years of experience with the pharmaceutical industry across the United Kingdom he firmly believes in the impact collaboration between the NHS, Third Sector, Academia, Government and Industry can bring to improving patient outcomes.

Professor Jacob George is Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine & Therapeutics at the University of Dundee Medical School. Professionally, he is a Consultant Physician in qualified in Clinical Pharmacology and General Internal Medicine and is an accredited European Hypertension Specialist. His clinical interest is in managing patients with high Cardiovascular risk and he is Clinical Lead for the Cardiovascular Risk Service in Tayside. His research interests are focused on managing cardiovascular risk factors such as left ventricular hypertrophy, salt and smoking/vaping. His research publications have been covered by more than 50 news organizations worldwide and he has conducted more than 80 media interviews including live television broadcasts to national and international media on the results of his research. He is actively involved in Medicines Governance in the UK being the National Clinical Lead for the Scottish Medicines Consortium. In this capacity, he sits on the Steering Group of the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP), a joint initiative between the MHRA, NICE,SMC and AWTTC. Locally, he is Chair of the Medicines Advisory Group and is a member of the PACS Tier 2 Committee. He also sits on the National Review Panel for drugs not approved by the SMC. He was recently appointed by the Minister of Health, Malaysia as an International Expert Member of the Malaysian Scientific Review Panel for Phase I Clinical Trials.

The Scottish Lipid Forum holds an annual educational meeting every November for lipid and cardiovascular risk specialists across Scotland. Many of us, like myself, are doctors trained in clinical biochemistry who see individuals with dyslipidaemia in an outpatient setting. However, the meeting also relies on the input of a wide range of healthcare professionals, including cardiologists, clinical pharmacologists, clinical geneticists, genetic counsellors, clinical nurse specialists, GPs, and paediatricians. Our aim is to keep up-to-date with the latest in lipidology and cardiovascular risk and to promote best practices across Scotland. And our meeting regularly attracts high-profile speakers in the field from Scotland and beyond. If you are interested in finding out more then please do get in touch using the details below.

In April/May 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, John began experiencing troubling symptoms that went beyond his asthma. Recognising the severity of his breathing difficulties, his daughter rushed him to the hospital one night, a decision that likely saved his life. This marked the beginning of a nine-week hospitalisation where doctors diagnosed him with blood clots in his heart and lungs, along with pneumonia. About a year later, John underwent a procedure to have a defibrillator fitted. In the years following this challenging time, he received the reassuring news that his heart was functioning normally. Today, John focuses on his well-being by attending weekly exercise classes and aims to further increase his activity level.

Professor Lis Neubeck is cardiac nurse with over 25 years of experience in a range of cardiac in-patient and out-patient settings. She is Professor of Cardiovascular Health in the School of Health and Social Care and Head of the Centre for Cardiovascular Health at Edinburgh Napier University. Her research focuses on innovative solutions to secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, identification and management of atrial fibrillation, and use of digital health to improve access to health care. Lis is the NHS Research Scotland Cardiovascular Clinical Network Lead, immediate Past President of the Association of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professionals of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and ESC patient forum lead.

Paul is an epidemiologist with a wide range of research interests encompassing biomarkers, lifestyle, and clinical research in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolism, and healthy aging, including influential clinical trials, large observational studies, and meta-analyses. His eclectic portfolio of work includes >300 publications with an H-index of >65. Recently, he has worked on revising the Scottish national cardiovascular risk score, ASSIGN 2, which is now being integrated into clinical practice. Paul founded and leads the Glasgow Biomarker Research Unit (GlasBRU) at University of Glasgow. GlasBRU was developed to drive a cross-sector collaboration between University of Glasgow, Roche Diagnostics and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, culminating in the funding of the Glasgow Biomarker Centre of Clinical Excellence in Heart Failure. This innovative long-term partnership aims to identify and address the unmet needs of heart failure patients in optimising the care pathway. His group also collaborates extensively with Astrazeneca, Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim and other industrial partners.