Professor Paul Charles Evans

Profile

Professor Paul Evans is Professor of Vascular Metabolism at the William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London. 

After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Wales, Paul undertook training in molecular biology at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge before being appointed as a Senior Lecturer and then Reader at Imperial College London. He joined the University of Sheffield as Professor of Cardiovascular Science in 2011, and was recruited to QMUL in 2023.

Paul's research has been published in more than 130 papers, and he has won several prestigious awards - most notably the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Outstanding Achievement Award which is their highest award for scientific excellence. He is Chair-elect of the ESC Council for Basic Cardiovascular Science, working with more than 5000 cardiovascular scientists throughout Europe, and Vice Chair-elect of the Gordon Research Conference on Vascular Biomechanics scheduled for 2025.

Research

Group members

• Dr Jovana Serbanovic-Canic (Research Fellow) - Jovana is a BHF Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellow investigating endothelial mechanoreceptors and how they regulate endothelial cell death in response to mechanical forces. She is using a range of different models and approaches to do this, including zebrafish, murine models and human cells.
• Dr Blanca Tardajos Ayllon (Postdoctoral Research Associate) - Blanca is a BHF-funded PostDoc working on the role of the TWIST1 gene in endothelial cell plasticity and atherosclerosis. Blanca recently completed her PhD in the lab, which focused on studying the role of the NFkB member C-Rel in shear stress mediated endothelial disfunction and atherosclerosis. 
• Dr Siyu Tian (Postdoctoral Research Associate) - Siyu is an MRC-funded Postdoc working on the transcriptional control of atherosclerosis. Prior to taking up this post in the lab, Siyu completed her PhD at Erasmus MC, Rotterdam studying the PIEZO2 mechanosensor in pulmonary hypertension.
• Dr Mannekomba Diagbouga (Postdoctoral Research Associate) - Mannekomba is a BHF-funded PostDoc working on the role of the TWIST1 gene in endothelial cell plasticity and atherosclerosis. Prior to this Mannekomba was a PhD student in the laboratory of Professor Brenda Kwak in Geneva studying the influence of shear stress on intracranial aneurysms.
• Hazem Darwish (PhD Student) - Hazem is a first year PhD student developing novel inhibitors against a pro-atherogenic transcription factor.
• Priscila Hirschfeld (PhD Student) - Priscila is a first year PhD student funded by the BHF to study the role of NF-kB transcription factors in lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis.
• David Reid (PhD Student) - David is a first year PhD student funded by the A*STAR Institute in Singapore to study the role of TWIST1 in stroke. 

Summary 

Our research focuses on the biomechanical mechanisms that control atherosclerosis, a disease of arteries that can lead to angina, heart attack and stroke. Disturbed blood flow generates frictional forces (shear stress) that trigger pathophysiological changes in endothelial cells that promote atherosclerosis initiation and the progression of plaques into dangerous unstable forms prone to rupture or erosion.

The laboratory combines genomics approaches with unbiased functional screening and biochemical studies to identify the signaling pathways and transcriptional programs that regulate endothelial cell responses to flow. The goal is to identify molecules within these pathways that can be targeted to prevent or treat atherosclerosis.

The cross-disciplinary nature of our work has led to interactions with physicist and engineers as well as molecular and cellular biologists and clinical scientists.

Publications

• Sun L, Leng R, Liu M et al. (2025). Endothelial MICU1 protects against vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis by inhibiting mitochondrial calcium uptake. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1172/jci181928

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Zhang Z, Chen M, Xu Y et al. (publicationYear). A natural small molecule isoginkgetin alleviates hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis by targeting ACLY. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.7150/thno.105782

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Davidson SM, Andreadou I, Antoniades C et al. (2025). Opportunities and challenges for the use of human samples in translational cardiovascular research: a scientific statement of the ESC Working Group on Cellular Biology of the Heart, the ESC Working Group on Cardiovascular Surgery, the ESC Council on Basic Cardiovascular Science, the ESC Scientists of Tomorrow, the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions of the ESC, and the Heart Failure Association of the ESC. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1093/cvr/cvaf023

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/101980
• Ayllon BT, Bowden N, Souilhol C et al. (2025). Endothelial c-REL orchestrates atherosclerosis at regions of disturbed flow through crosstalk with TXNIP-p38 and non-canonical NF-κB pathways. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1093/cvr/cvaf024

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Liberale L, Tual-Chalot S, Sedej S et al. (2025). Roadmap for alleviating the manifestations of ageing in the cardiovascular system. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1038/s41569-025-01130-5

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Su M, Zhao W, Jiang H et al. (2025). Endothelial IGFBP6 suppresses vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1038/s44161-024-00591-0

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Bowley G, Irving S, Hoefer I et al. (publicationYear). Zebrafish model for functional screening of flow-responsive genes controlling endothelial cell proliferation. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-77370-1

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Boldock L, Inzoli A, Bonardelli S et al. (publicationYear). Correction: Integrating particle tracking with computational fluid dynamics to assess haemodynamic perturbation by coronary artery stents. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314392

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Zhou Z, Korteland S-A, Tardajos-Ayllon B et al. (2024). Shear stress is uncoupled from atheroprotective KLK10 in atherosclerotic plaques. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2024.118622

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• X S, Aitken C, Mehta V et al. (2024). Controversy in mechanotransduction – the role of endothelial cell–cell junctions in fluid shear stress sensing. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1242/jcs.262348

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100445

Disclosures

No disclosures.