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

• Chen Y, Savage AM, Jiang Z et al. (2026). Blood flow coordinates collective endothelial cell migration during vascular plexus formation and promotes angiogenic sprout regression via vegfr3/flt4.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1242/dev.205424

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Su M, Zhao W, Jiang H et al. (2026). Author Correction: Endothelial IGFBP6 suppresses vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1038/s44161-026-00876-6

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Ayllon BT, Font JG, Winks TAE et al. (2026). Polycystin-1 suppresses apoptotic signalling in endothelial cells and protects from atherosclerosis. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1093/cvr/cvag171

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Roubille F, Kharlamov JA, Lenz M et al. (2026). Inflammation in coronary syndromes in clinical practice: a clinical consensus statement of the Association for Acute Cardiovascular Care of the European Society of Cardiology, the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases, the European Society of Cardiology Council on Basic Cardiovascular Science, and the European Society of Cardiology Council for Cardiology Practice. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1093/ehjacc/zuag086

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Ilyas I, Evans PC, Berk BC et al. (2026). Endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EndMT) in atherosclerosis: mechanisms, models, and therapies. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1093/cvr/cvag145

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Tian S, Evans PC (2026). Endothelial Gata4 in atherosclerosis progression. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1093/cvr/cvag092.190

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Chuntharpursat-Bon E, Serbanovic-Canic J, Alfaidi M et al. (2026). Sensing of shear stress in vascular endothelial cells - from physiology to pathology.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1242/jcs.264456

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• AlZaim I, Hassan MN, Schröter M et al. (2026). Defining the vascular niche of human adipose tissue across metabolic states. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1038/s42255-026-01475-2

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref
• Evans PC, Vilahur G, Kleinbongard P et al. (2026). Novel cardiovascular metabolic risk factor mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehag116

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/handle/123456789/131467
• Tardajos Ayllon B, Diagbouga M, Das A et al. (publicationYear). TWIST1 drives endothelial-to-mesenchymal-transition to stabilize atherosclerotic plaques. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-69808-z

  
  

  QMRO: qmroHref

Disclosures

No disclosures.