Join us to celebrate a special milestone for our new professors and hear about their inspiring career journeys. Doors for this event will open at 16.45, with the lectures to commence at 17.00. A drinks reception will be held immediately after the lecture at 18:00.

Registration closes at 12am on the Sunday before the lecture as King’s Venues require a list of all attendees, particularly those external to King’s 48 hours in advance of the event. If you are a member of staff wishing to attend after registration has closed, please just email communicationsunit@kcl.ac.uk to let us know.

Professor Afshan Malik

Tales of a forgotten genome: Mitochondria, energy, and metabolic disease

Abstract

Research is an adventure—full of excitement, surprises, and challenges. In this lecture, I will share my journey: how mastering molecular biology tools to clone disease genes, first in bacteria and then humans, led me to study the molecular mechanisms of diabetic kidney disease—and unexpectedly revealed my lifelong passion: mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA. Far beyond generating energy, mitochondria orchestrate metabolic pathways that underpin cellular function and systemic health. Using data from my lab on diabetic complications, obesity-related comorbidities, Alzheimer’s disease, and others, I will show that mitochondrial dysfunction is not cell- or tissue-specific but may drive multiple human diseases through common highly conserved pathways. Looking ahead, unravelling mitochondrial mechanisms and developing strategies to preserve mitochondrial health could enable interventions that target shared pathways underlying multiple chronic diseases.

Biography

Afshan Malik is Professor of Metabolic Disease at King’s College London in the School of Cardiovascular Medicine and Metabolic Sciences.

Afshan obtained a BSc in Microbiology from UCL and a PhD in Bacterial Genetics from Greenwich University. As a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Child Health and subsequently King’s College Hospital, she specialized in positional and expression cloning of human disease genes. She established her independent research at Cardiff University, using mRNA expression to identify candidate disease genes in diabetic kidneys. Relocating to King’s, she discovered dysregulation of mitochondrial DNA and transcription in diabetic kidneys and was the first to propose mitochondrial DNA levels as a biomarker of mitochondrial dysfunction. Her lab developed widely adopted methods and currently focuses on mitochondrial biology in diabetic complications, obesity-related comorbidities, organ injury, and Alzheimer’s disease. Afshan is passionate about advancing tools to monitor and protect human mitochondrial health.

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Professor Richard Russell

There and Back Again 

Abstract

Many will recognise this as the alternative title of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the story of an epic and unexpected journey. This lecture describes another round-trip journey—one that has taken even longer than Bilbo Baggins’.

The talk aims to inform, educate and entertain, focusing on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), the central theme of my research career. It traces my path from medical student, seeking to understand the impact of disease on individuals and families, to developing new approaches to treat this under-recognised yet profoundly burdensome chronic respiratory condition.

COPD disproportionately affects deprived populations who are least heard and hardest to treat. My work has spanned cellular mechanisms of disease and the challenge of implementing national-level change. I will describe this journey and the collaborations that have helped drive progress for people living with COPD.

I began at Guy’s, and it has been an honour to return there with King’s College London.

Biography

Professor Russell trained in London and is currently a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at KCL London and the head of department of the Peter Gorer Department of Immunobiology. He is a Respiratory Consultant in Hampshire UK and the Clinical Director of the West Hampshire Integrated Respiratory Service. In November 2024 he became the Chair of the British Thoracic Society.

His research focusses on the basic mechanisms of COPD, disease progression, COPD exacerbations, mechanisms of lung damage as well as phenotypes of all airways disease.

Dr Russell is the founding Editor of the International Journal of COPD, and is keen to increase the global awareness of COPD and provide a platform for scientific developments from across the world.