Jane Margaret Armitage is a professor of

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

s and

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

in the

Clinical Trial Service Unit The Clinical Trial Service Unit (CTSU) is a medical research institute within the Nuffield Department of Population Health at Oxford University. It primarily conducts large scale clinical trials (phase III – Final Testing) and epidemiological ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. She works on the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease and has led large-scale

randomized controlled trial A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical ...

Early life and education

Armitage qualified in

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

in 1979. She worked in

respiratory medicine ''Respiratory Medicine'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by Elsevier covering research in pulmonology. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', ''Respiratory Medicine'' has a 2020 impact factor The impact factor (I ...

geriatrics Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on addressing the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατρός ''iatros'' mean ...

and

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

Research and career

In 1990 Armitage joined the

. She has served as Director of Training & Career Development as well as leading the Medical Research Council Population Health Research Unit. She is best known for her work on the safety of

statin Statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are a class of medications that lower cholesterol. They are prescribed typically to people who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) carriers of cholesterol play ...

s. Armitage led the 1999 Medical Research Council and

British Heart Foundation The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is a cardiovascular research charity in the United Kingdom. It funds medical research related to heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors, and runs influencing work aimed at shaping public policy ...

Heart Protection Study The Heart Protection Study was a randomized controlled trial run by the Clinical Trial Service Unit, and funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in the United Kingdom. It studied the use of the choles ...

, which included 20,000 participants. The study is the largest that investigates the use of

s to prevent

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

. She was also the lead for the Study of the Effectiveness of Additional Reductions in Cholesterol and Homocysteine (SEARCH) study and the

2 (HPS2) Treatment of HDL to Reduce the Incidence of Vascular Events (THRIVE) study. She demonstrated that

s are also safe for patients with

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...

. Armitage was Chief Investigator for the ASCEND aspirin trial, which studied

in 15,480 patients with

. ASCEND was the largest ever study that had every been performed to investigate whether aspirin should be used to prevent

in diabetic patients. The trial found that whilst aspirin reduces the risk of cardiovascular events by 12%, it increases the risk of major bleeding. As an addition to the ASCEND study, Armitage was supported by

Alzheimer's Research UK Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK) is a dementia research charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1992 as the Alzheimer's Research Trust. Alzheimer’s Research UK funds scientific studies to find ways to treat, diagnose and prevent all forms of ...

to study the impact of

aspirin Aspirin () is the genericized trademark for acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions that aspirin is ...

and

fish oil Fish oil is oil derived from the tissues of oily fish. Fish oils contain the omega−3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), precursors of certain eicosanoids that are known to reduce inflammation in the bod ...

on memory and cognition in patients with

and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. They also studied whether aspirin changes the risk of developing dementia and

. She also investigated whether

and

vitamin D Vitamin D is a group of structurally related, fat-soluble compounds responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, along with numerous other biological functions. In humans, the most important compo ...

supplements reduced

in diabetic patients, but found they had no impact. She is an editor for the journal

Atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis, characterized by development of abnormalities called lesions in walls of arteries. This is a chronic inflammatory disease involving many different cell types and is driven by eleva ...

Awards and honours

2019 Awarded an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for services to

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armitage, Jane British women medical doctors Academics of the University of Oxford Officers of the Order of the British Empire British women epidemiologists British epidemiologists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people