Dr Allan Gaw
Allan Gaw, MD, PhD, FRCPath, FFPM, PGCert Med Ed is currently Director of Operations at the Glasgow Clinical Research Facility.
After graduating in Medicine from the University of Glasgow in 1984 he trained in Clinical Biochemistry before specialising in Clinical Lipidology when he held the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study Lectureship for three years. On completion of his PhD, which focussed on the metabolic mechanisms of cholesterol lowering drugs, he spent two years post doctoral study funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in the laboratories of the Nobel Laureates, Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown in Dallas,Texas. During that time he worked on the molecular genetics of familial cholesterol disorders.
He returned to the UK to take up a BHF Intermediate Fellowship at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. In 1997 he was appointed Deputy Study Director of PROSPER and in 2000 took over the leadership of the Clinical Trials Unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. In 2006 he was appointed Director of Operations of the Glasgow Clinical Research Facility. His current interests are the study of cholesterol lowering drug therapies, the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, the design and conduct of clinical trials and medical education.
He is the author of over 145 original papers, reviews and book chapters on cholesterol and coronary heart disease and clinical trials, and has authored or edited 15 textbooks on subjects such as Clinical Biochemistry, Coronary Heart Disease Prevention, the Pharmacology of the Statins, Lipids and Atherosclerosis, and the History of Clinical Trials.
Further details: www.allangaw.com www.glasgowcrf.org.uk
Publications
Recent journal articles
- Gensini GF, Gori AM, Di Laghi B, Rostagno C, Gaw A, Blanco-Colio LM, de Teresa E, Egido J, Farsang C, Leiter LA, Martineau P, Nozza A, Langer A, on behalf of the ACTFAST investigators. Effect of atorvastatin on circulating hsCRP concentrations: a sub-study of The Achieve Cholesterol Targets Fast with Atorvastatin Stratified Titration (ACTFAST) Study. In press: International Journal of Cardiology, 2009.
- Lindsay GM, Niven KA, Brodie EE, Gaw A, Belcher P. Accuracy of patient recall of pre-operative symptom severity at one year following coronary artery bypass grafting. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18: 418-25, 2009.
- Leiter LA, Martineau P, de Teresa E, Farsang C, Gaw A, Gensini GF, Langer A. Targeted dosing of atorvastatin achieves cholesterol targets quickly in subjects with diabetes or the metabolic syndrome (the ACTFAST studies). Journal of Family Practice, 57: 661-668, 2008.
- Freeman DJ, Robertson M, Brown EA, Rumley A, Tobias E, Ford I, Gaw A, Greer IA, Lowe GD, Stott DJ. Risk factors for the development of incident venous thrombotic events in the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER). Submitted to Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 2008.
- Blanco-Colio LM, Martin-Ventura JL, Gomez-Guerrero C, Masramon X, de Teresa E, Farsang C, Gaw A, Gensini GF, Leiter LA, Langer A, Martineau P, Egido J. Adiponectin plasma levels are increased by atorvastatin treatment in subjects at high cardiovascular risk. European Journal of Pharmacology, 586:259-265, 2008.
- Trompet S, de Craen AJM, Slagboom PE, Shepherd, J., Blauw, G.J., Murphy, M.B., Bollen, E.L.E.M., Buckley, B.M Ford, I., Gaw, A., Macfarlane, P.W., Packard, C.J., Stott, D.J., Jukema, J.W., Westendorp, R.G.J. and on behalf of the PROSPER Group. Genetic variation in the interleukin-1 beta converting enzyme associates with cognitive function. The PROSPER study. Brain, 131:1069-77, 2008.
- Trompet S, de Craen AJM, Slagboom PE, Shepherd, J., Blauw, G.J., Murphy, M.B., Bollen, E.L.E.M., Buckley, B.M Ford, I., Gaw, A., Macfarlane, P.W., Packard, C.J., Stott, D.J., Westendorp, R.G.J., Jukema, J.W. Lymphotoxin-alpha C804A polymorphism is a risk factor for stroke. The PROSPER study. Experimental Gerontology 43:801-805, 2008.
- Blanco-Colio LM, Martin-Ventura JL, de Teresa E, Farsang C, Gaw A, Gensini GF, Leiter LA, Langer A, Martineau P, Egido J. Atorvastatin decreases elevated soluble CD4OL in subjects at high cardiovascular risk. Atorvastatin on inflammatory markers study: a substudy of ACTFAST. Kidney International, Suppl. 111:S60-3, 2008.
- Gaw, A. Should we be targeting triglyceride as well as LDL cholesterol in the battle against coronary heart disease? Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine, 5: 438-9, 2008.
Recent Books
- Gaw, A., Packard, C.J. and Shepherd, J. Statins: the HMG CoA reductase inhibitors in perspective, 2nd edition Martin Dunitz, London. 2004.
- Lindsay, G.M. and Gaw, A. (eds) Coronary Heart Disease Prevention: A Handbook for the Health-care Team 2nd edition pp 344, Harcourt Brace, Edinburgh, 2004.
- Gaw, A., Murphy, M.A., Cowan, R.A., O'Reilly, D. St. J., Stewart, M.J., and Shepherd, J.: Clinical Biochemistry An Illustrated Colour Text. 3rd edition pp 175, Harcourt Brace, Edinburgh, 2004.
- French translation (Biochimie Clinique) published by Campus Illustré, 2005.
- Italian translation published by 2007.
- Gaw, A., Murphy, M.A., Cowan, R.A., O'Reilly, D. St. J., Stewart, M.J., and Shepherd, J.: Clinical Biochemistry An Illustrated Colour Text. 4th edition, Elsevier, Edinburgh, 2008.
- Greek translation of 4th edition in preparation.
- Gaw, A. Trial by Fire: Lessons from the History of Clinical Trials. SA Press, Glasgow 2009.