Patrick Chinnery
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Patrick Francis Chinnery is a neurologist, clinician scientist, and
Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...
Principal Research Fellow based in the Medical Research Council Mitochondrial Biology Unit and the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, where he is also professor of neurology and head of the department of clinical neurosciences. In 2023 he was appointed executive chair of the
Medical Research Council (United Kingdom) The Medical Research Council (MRC) is responsible for co-coordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI), which came into operation 1 April 2018, and brings together ...
. He is co-chair of the
National Institute for Health and Care Research The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the British government's major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research. With a budget of over £1.2 billion in 2020–21, its mission is to "impr ...
BioResource for Translational Research in Chronic and Rare Diseases.


Early life and education

Chinnery attended Medical School at
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...
, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Medical Science degree in 1989 with first class honours; and Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery with honours in 1992. He went on to complete his PhD in mitochondrial genetics in 2000 whilst training in clinical neurology and neurogenetics.


Medical career and research

Chinnery trained as a physician and neurologist in the north east of England, becoming a member of the
Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...
in 1995, and completing his specialist clinical training in
neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...
2002 when he was appointed Honorary Consultant Neurologist at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He specializes in inherited disorders of the nervous system (neurogenetics) and established the north of England regional
neurogenetics Neurogenetics studies the role of genetics in the development and function of the nervous system. It considers neural characteristics as phenotypes (i.e. manifestations, measurable or not, of the genetic make-up of an individual), and is mainly ba ...
service between 2002 and 2015. In 2015 he moved to the University of Cambridge as Professor of Neurology and Head of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences within the School of Clinical Medicine. He practices as a neurologist at
Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is a large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county to ...
. He became a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College in 2017 where he is Director of Studies in Clinical Medicine. His research focuses on understanding the role of
mitochondria A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...
in human disease. He has identified the genetic basis of several new diseases caused by genetic mutations affecting the genetic code within mitochondria (mtDNA) and the nuclear genome which code for mitochondrial proteins. In the first genetic epidemiology study he showed that mtDNA diseases were much more common than expected. People with mtDNA diseases often harbour a mixture of normal and abnormal mtDNA (heteroplasmy). His group showed that most healthy people also carry heteroplasmic mtDNA mutations, but at very low levels. They showed that a dramatic reduction in mtDNA levels within female germ cells during embryonic development leads to major shifts in heteroplasmy levels over one generation (the mitochondrial genetic bottleneck). The bottleneck explains how low level heteroplasmy in carriers can lead to mitochondrial diseases within one generation, and the different severity of mtDNA disease seen in siblings within the same family. Carrying out the first large-scale study in the UK 100,000 genomes project, he showed that the nuclear genetic background also influences the inheritance pattern of mtDNA mutations. He also showed that genetic variation of mtDNA influences the risk of developing common diseases and many human physiological traits, including kidney and liver function. He has been supported by Wellcome Trust research fellowships since 1995, most recently as a Wellcome Principal Research Fellow. Additional research support has come from the Medical Research Council / UK Research and Innovation, and the National Institute for Health Research.  


Leadership

Chinnery was Director of the
National Institute for Health Research The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the British government's major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research. With a budget of over £1.2 billion in 2020–21, its mission is to "improv ...
(NIHR) Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre from 2008 to 2015, leading a doubling of funding. Since 2012 he has been co-chair of the NIHR Rare Diseases Translational Research Collaboration, then the NIHR BioResource with John Bradley. In 2010 he was appointed Director of the Institute of Genetic Medicine at Newcastle University. In 2015 he moved to the University of Cambridge as Professor of Neurology and Head of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences. In 2018 he became Clinical Director of the Medical Research Council within UK Research and Innovation, where is he was responsible for clinical translational research programmes. He has advised to two UK Government Chief Medical Advisors, and ministers and Secretaries of State within the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy.  In 2020 he was appointed National Core Study Lead for
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
therapeutics by the UK Government Chief Scientific Advisor Sir
Patrick Vallance Patrick John Thompson Vallance, Baron Vallance of Balham (born 17 March 1960), is a British physician, scientist, life peer, and clinical pharmacologist who has served as Minister of State for Science in the Department for Science, Innovatio ...
. In 2020 he was asked by UK Government Chief Medical Advisor Professor
Chris Whitty Sir Christopher John MacRae Whitty (born 21 April 1966) is a British epidemiologist, serving as Chief Medical Officer for England and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government since 2019. Whitty was Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department ...
to established and chair the UK COVID-19 Therapeutics Advisory Panel (UK-CTAP) which recommended drugs into the UK national clinical trial platforms.


Awards and honors

Chinnery was awarded several prizes as a training neurologist and researcher, twice being awarded the Charles Symonds Prize by the
Association of British Neurologists Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...
(1997, 2002). In 2009 he was the youngest elected member of the
Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academy, National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its ...
, who awarded him the Foulkes Foundation Medal in 2011.  He has been a Fellow of the
Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...
since 2006, and a Fellow of the
Royal College of Pathologists The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) is a professional membership organisation. Its main function is the overseeing of postgraduate training, and its Fellowship Examination (FRCPath) is recognised as the standard assessment of fitness to p ...
since 2007. In 2010 he became a NIHR Senior Investigator (now emeritus), and is a corresponding member of the
American Neurological Association The American Neurological Association (ANA) is a professional society of academic neurologists and neuroscientists devoted to advancing the goals of academic neurology; to training and educating neurologists and other physicians in the neurologic ...
. In 2022 he was awarded the Galen Medal by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in 2024.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinnery, Patrick British neurologists Professors of the University of Cambridge Alumni of Newcastle University Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Royal Society NIHR Senior Investigators Medical doctors from Leeds 1968 births Living people