Dr Marina Cecelja

Biography

I am a Research Fellow in the Department of Clinical Pharmacology, School of Cardiovascular Medicine and Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine. I have BSc in Human Sciences from University College London (2002 - 2005) and a PhD in Cardiovascular Physiology, supervised by Professor Phil Chowienczyk from King’s College London (2007 – 2011), investigating the pathophysiological and genetic mechanisms of aortic stiffness and blood pressure. I carried out my post-doc between 2012 and 2013 funded by the Biomedical Research Centre, Guys and St Thomas’ National Health Service Foundation Trust to understand the age-related changes in vascular structure and function using multi-modality imaging.  In 2009 and 2014 I was awarded the Artery Young Investigator prize and won the British Hypertension Society Young Investigator Prize in 2010. Between 2013 and 2015 I was awarded a non-clinical Career Establishment Fellowship provided by King’s College London British Heart Foundation (BHF) Centre of Research Excellence. Following this, I was supported by the BHF Centre of Research Excellence to complete a Master’s degree in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. My research focuses on age-related characterization of cardiovascular structure and function and understanding the haemodynamic and genetic mechanisms that underlie those in cohort population studies. I have extensive expertise in non-invasive assessment of cardiovascular structure and function using multi-modality imaging and analytical skills for analysing large epidemiological and genetic datasets.  I contribute to undergraduate Physiology teaching and am a member of the Development, Diversity and Inclusion team at King’s College London. In addition, I am a member of the Artery Society, NHS Research Ethics Committee member and Associate Editor for the JRSM Cardiovascular Disease journal.