About
Professor Geraldine Clough is an Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton where her research has focused on the determinants of microvascular dysfunction. Through collaboration with basic biomedical scientists, clinicians, engineers and with industry, she has played a leading role in the development and evaluation of techniques for the assessment of tissue perfusion and nutrient delivery across the life-course. Most recently Professor Clough’s group has undertaken functional and therapeutic studies to investigate and model impaired microvascular function and its association with cardiovascular risk in healthy humans and in patient cohorts with metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Research
Research interests
- Early identification of risk of small vessel dysfunction in cardio-metabolic disease
- Mechanisms underlying the developmental priming of vascular plasticity and endothelial dysfunction by maternal diet
- Development of novel devices and approaches for the multiscale assessment of the dynamics of microvascular perfusion
Current research
Professor Clough is no longer research active.
Research projects
Completed projects
Publications
Teaching
Professor Clough no longer has teaching responsibilities.
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
Geraldine Clough studied Physiology at University College London where she completed her PhD on the mechanical and transport properties of the microvasculature in 1997. She held academic positions as Florey Research Fellow in the University of Oxford and as Lecturer in Physiology and Biophysics at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, Imperial College London before moving to the University of Southampton in 1996 where she held one of the first Wellcome Trust Re-entry Fellowships to be awarded prior to her appointment as Reader (2004-2007) and then Professor of Vascular Physiology (2007-2018).
Geraldine Clough led a programme of research directed at characterising the factors underlying small blood vessel (microvascular) dysfunction associated with common chronic non-communicable disorders and strategies for the early identification of risk of small vessel dysfunction in cardio-metabolic disease. Mechanistic, functional and therapeutic investigations in in vivo preclinical models of vascular disease and in isolated vascular tissues and cells have been translated into studies in healthy humans and patient cohorts in collaboration with clinicians and scientists in the NIHR BRC and UHS. The major strength of this programme has been her extensive network of collaborators across the Faculties of Medicine, Heath Sciences and Engineering in the University of Southampton, the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, and with the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. This research has been supported by UK Research Councils, NIHR, Wellcome Trust, British Heart Foundation and by industry. She has published over 150 peer original articles, reviews, book chapters and commentaries.
The cross-disciplinary nature of her research has also given rise to a number of informal and formal consultancies with government (DSTL Porton Down collaborative research for over 10 years and as a consultant 2002-2005), pharma (notably Unilever, Astra Zeneca, UCB), and with SMEs (Probe Scientific UK; Moor Instruments UK) with 15 year intellectual and in kind relationships that have gained international recognition for the research undertaken in Southampton.
Professor Clough has held external positions within learned societies, as member of Council of the Physiological Society, Senior Editor of the Journal of Physiology, member of the Executive Committee of the Journal of Physiology, President of the British Microcirculation Society, member of the European Society of Microcirculation Executive and Awards panel and the International Liaison Committee. She has been a Visiting Professor at Southern University China (2008-2011) and in the BHF Centre of Research Excellence at King’s College London (2015-2021).