Tim is at the Heart of Improving Cardiovascular Care

Professor Tim Palmer is working towards identifying the novel molecular mechanisms for generating effective therapeutics to manage Cardiovascular Diseases. This involves collaborations with clinical colleagues in Cardiothoracic Surgery, Haematology and Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Tim is the Head of the Centre for Atherothrombosis and Metabolic Disease at Hull York Medical School and the Interim Head of the Department of Biomedical Sciences. He is the Associate Editor on the editorial board of Cellular Signaling (Elsevier) journal. He is also a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Professor Tim Palmer

Hull York Medical School Professor of Cardiovascular Biology

+44 (0)1482 465511 Tim.Palmer@hull.ac.uk

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Professor Palmer has secured over £5 million in research income from multiple funders (British Heart Foundation, BBSRC, Diabetes UK, Wellcome Trust) and has successfully trained 17 PhD students.

Can you tell us more about your current research into Cardiovascular Disease?

Localised inflammation of branch points within large blood vessels is a pivotal event in the development of atherosclerotic plaque responsible for heart attack and stroke. Inflammation is driven by long-term exposure to chemical signals termed "cytokines" which trigger multiple pathways that ultimately lead to the defective vascular cell function responsible for Cardiovascular Disease. These processes are also responsible for the failure of bypass and stenting procedures used for acute treatment of patients who have suffered a heart attack.

Who are the key collaborators/networks/stakeholders you currently work with?

Locally, I collaborate with Professor Mahmoud Loubani (Cardiothoracic Surgery, Castle Hill Hospital) on how diabetes increases risk of vein graft failure in bypass surgery, and Dr David Allsup (HYMS, Queen’s Oncology Centre, Castle Hill Hospital) on targeted re-purposing anti-diabetes drugs to manage bleeding defects in patents with specific blood cancers. More widely, I collaborate with research groups in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, York, Sheffield and Bradford as well as Europe and Australia.

Can you tell us about any other current research?

We are currently examining how poorly controlled diabetes increases risk of vein graft failure after bypass surgery by using affinity purification tools and proteomics to identify key proteins in blood vessels modified in response to high blood glucose.

What drives your passion for research?

I am fortunate to have been successful enough to pursue research questions I am passionate about, and work and travel around the world to progress them.

What do you like most about working at the University of Hull?

I am lucky to work with many talented, supportive and hard-working colleagues.

Community Impact

Publications:

Bolanle, I. O., Riches-Suman, K., Loubani, M., Williamson, R., & Palmer, T. M. (2021). Revascularisation of type 2 diabetics with coronary artery disease: Insights and therapeutic targeting of O-GlcNAcylation. Nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases NMCD
Florah, T., Moshapa, , Riches-Suman, K., Palmer, T. M., & Palmer, T. M. (2019). Therapeutic targeting of the proinflammatory IL-6-JAK/STAT signalling pathways responsible for vascular restenosis in Type 2 diabetes mellitus Cardiology Research and Practice, 2019
Strembitska, A., Mancini, S. J., Gamwell, J. M., Palmer, T. M., Baillie, G. S., & Salt, I. P. (2018). A769662 inhibits insulin-stimulated akt activation in human macrovascular endothelial cells independent of AMP-activated protein kinase. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(12), 3886.
Mancini, S. J., Boyd, D., Katwan, O. J., Strembitska, A., Almabrouk, T. A., Kennedy, S., …Salt, I. P. (2018). Canagliflozin inhibits interleukin-1ß-stimulated cytokine and chemokine secretion in vascular endothelial cells by AMP-activated protein kinase-dependent and -independent mechanisms Scientific reports, 8(1)
Williams JJL, Alotaiq N, Mullen W, Burchmore R, Liu L, Baillie GS, Schaper F, Pilch PF, Palmer TM. Interaction of suppressor of cytokine signalling 3 with cavin-1 links SOCS3 function and cavin-1 stability. Nat Commun. 2018 Jan 12;9(1):168. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02585-y.
Mancini SJ, White AD, Bijland S, Rutherford C, Graham D, Richter EA, Viollet B, Touyz RM, Palmer TM, Salt IP. Activation of AMP-activated protein kinase rapidly suppresses multiple pro-inflammatory pathways in adipocytes including IL-1 receptor-associated kinase-4 phosphorylation. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2017 Jan 15;440:44-56. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2016.11.010.
Rutherford C, Speirs C, Williams JJ, Ewart MA, Mancini SJ, Hawley SA, Delles C, Viollet B, Costa-Pereira AP, Baillie GS, Salt IP, Palmer TM. Phosphorylation of Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) links energy sensing to anti-inflammatory signaling. Sci Signal. 2016 Nov 8;9(453):ra109.