Prof. Barry McDonnell

Professor Barry McDonnell is a Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology at Cardiff Metropolitan University, where he leads the Cardiff Met. Cardiovascular Physiology Research and Innovation Group and leads the UK and Ireland’s May Measurement Month (MMM) blood pressure awareness campaign, as part of the International Society of Hypertension’s global initiative. Professor McDonnell also co-leads the Wales National Cardiovascular Research Network, focussing on vascular ageing and translational medicine, of which he leads a program of work assessing the cardiovascular phenotypes linked to Hypertension. Professor McDonnell is currently working as the Work Group-1 vice-lead for the European Cost Action - Vascular Ageing Network, and is editor for the journal Artery Research. His research program aims to increase awareness and understand the interactions between blood pressure and large artery haemodynamics in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease.

To date, his work has resulted in a number of highly cited, high-quality publications in high impact factor medical journals. Through collaboration with world-leading academics and institutions, e.g. University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, MacQuarie University, Sydney and Columbia University, New York, he has successfully built an internationally competitive research portfolio in the areas of arterial haemodynamics and blood pressure. Through his collaborative research, Professor McDonnell has been awarded approx. £3.5 million from competitive national and international funding streams (e.g. EU Horizon2020, British Heart Foundation, Health and Care Research Wales & National Institute for Health (US)). Working in collaboration with industrial partners and the Columbia University Heart Failure and Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) program since 2014, his work has provided an alternative system to validate and accurately measure blood pressure (which is often undetectable using traditional systems) in Heart Mate II Left Ventricular Assist Device patients.