Professor Jon Townend BSc, MB, ChB, FRCP, FRCP, FESC

Professor Jon Townend

Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences
Consultant Cardiologist and Director of Clinical Research

Contact details

Address
Department of Cardiovascular Sciences
IBR
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Professor Townend is Director of Clinical Research and honorary Professor of Cardiology within the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Birmingham and a Consultant Cardiologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.  He is a senior clinical investigator with numerous grants and awards and publications in leading cardiovascular journals.  He is joint leader of the Birmingham Cardio-Renal Research Group.

Qualifications

  • Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology since 2002
  • Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians since 2002
  • MD University of Birmingham 1994
  • MB ChB University of Birmingham 1983
  • BSc (hons) University of Birmingham 1980 

Biography

Professor Townend was born in York and educated in Cumbria.  His undergraduate training was at the University of Birmingham where he included an intercalated BSc in Physiology.  Postgraduate training was in Birmingham and St George’s Hospital London. 

He was appointed Lecturer in the University Department of Cardiology in 1994 and then BHF Senior Lecturer 1997-2002.  He was appointed as a Consultant Cardiologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham in 2002. 

Alongside a career in interventional cardiology Professor Townend has maintained an active research programme.  He has published in a variety of fields including cardiac autonomic control, coronary artery disease including acute myocardial infarction, interventional cardiology and cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease. 

Professor Townend was Clinical Service Lead for Cardiology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham from 2011-2015.  He was secretary of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society between 2000 and 2003 and a member of the BHF project grant committee between 2002 and 2005. He was a member of the BCIS Clinical Standards Group between 2012-2016 and Associate Director for R&D at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust 2013-2017. 

Postgraduate supervision

  1. Dr J C Vaile 1997-1999. MD (Awarded with honours) 2001.  ‘Human cardiac vagal control in health and cardiovascular disease’
  2. Dr J Thambyrajah 1999-2001 MD (Awarded with honours) 2002.  ‘The role of homocysteine in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in chronic renal failure’
  3. Ms K Kullar 1998-2000 M Med Sci 2000 ‘Cardiac autonomic function following ablation of re-entrant tachycardias’
  4. Dr S Chowdhary 1999-2002  PhD 2002 ‘Nitric oxide and human cardiac vagal control’
  5. Dr H Routledge 2000-2004  MD 2006  ‘ Air pollutants and the cardiovascular system’
  6. Dr A Buch 2001-2003  MD  2006  ‘The effect of manipulating the l-arginine-nitric oxide pathway on cardiac vagal control in human heart failure’
  7. Dr NC Edwards 2005-2008 PhD 2012:  ‘Mineralocorticoid Receptor Blockade in Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease; Effects on Conduit Arteries and the Left Ventricle’.
  8. Dr Colin Chue 2008-2012  PhD 2013.  ‘Does phosphate binding with sevelamer carbonate improve cardiovascular structure and function in patients with early chronic kidney disease?’
  9. Dr Will Moody  2010- 2014  PhD . Effect of a reduction in renal function on cardiovascular structure and function; a prospective study of living kidney donors
  10. Dr Manvir Hayer
  11. Dr Anna Price 2016-2020  Ph D 2021. Effect of a reduction in renal function on cardiovascular structure and function. A 5 year follow up study
  12. Dr Ashwin Radhakrishnan 2018-2020   Studies on coronary microvascular function in chronic kidney disease MD 2021

Research

The Birmingham Cardio-Renal Research Group has undertaken many clinical and laboratory studies examining the causes and potential treatments for cardiovascular disease in patients with early stage chronic kidney disease.  A number of clinical techniques hav been used including arterial tonometry, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, echocardiography, and Doppler coronary measurement of coronary flow velocity.

Laboratory and clinical studies are ongoing.

Other activities

  • Consultant cardiologist, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
  • Chair of TSC, The High-volume Haemodiafiltration vs High-flux Haemodialysis Registry Trial H4RT, funded by NIHR HTA, University of Bristol
  • Chair of end point adjudication committee, ALL-HEART, NIHR HTA, University of Dundee

Publications

  1. Ferro CJ, Berry M, Moody WE, George S, Sharif A, Townend JN. Screening for occult coronary artery disease in potential kidney transplant recipients: time for reappraisal? Clin Kidney J. 2021 Jul 6;14(12):2472-2482. doi: 10.1093/ckj/sfab103. PMID: 34950460; PMCID: PMC8690093.
  2. Edwards NC, Price AM, Mehta S, Hiemstra TF, Kaur A, Greasley PJ, Webb DJ, Dhaun N, MacIntyre IM, Farrah T, Melville V, Herrey AS, Slinn G, Wale R, Ives N, Wheeler DC, Wilkinson I, Steeds RP, Ferro CJ, Townend JN. Effects of Spironolactone and Chlorthalidone on Cardiovascular Structure and Function in Chronic Kidney Disease: A Randomized, Open-Label Trial. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021 Oct;16(10):1491-1501. doi: 10.2215/CJN.01930221. Epub 2021 Aug 30. PMID: 34462286; PMCID: PMC8499017.
  3. Pickup LC, Law JP, Radhakrishnan A, Price AM, Loutradis C, Smith TO, Edwards NC, Steeds RP, Townend JN, Ferro CJ. Changes in left ventricular structure and function associated with renal transplantation: a systematic review and meta analysis. ESC Heart Fail. 2021 Jun;8(3):2045-2057. doi: 10.1002/ehf2.13283. Epub 2021 Mar 15. PMID: 33987986; PMCID: PMC8120418.
  4. Price AM, Moody WE, Stoll VM, Vijapurapu R, Hayer MK, Biasiolli L, Weston CJ, Webster R, Wesolowski R, McGee KC, Liu B, Baig S, Pickup LC, Radhakrishnan A, Law JP, Edwards NC, Steeds RP, Ferro CJ, Townend JN. Cardiovascular Effects of Unilateral Nephrectomy in Living Kidney Donors at 5 Years. Hypertension. 2021Apr;77(4):1273-1284. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.15398. Epub 2021 Feb 8. PMID: 33550822; PMCID: PMC7968960.
  5. Kotecha D, Bunting KV, Gill SK, Mehta S, Stanbury M, Jones JC, Haynes S, Calvert MJ, Deeks JJ, Steeds RP, Strauss VY, Rahimi K, Camm AJ, Griffith M, Lip GYH, Townend JN, Kirchhof P; Rate Control Therapy Evaluation in Permanent Atrial Fibrillation (RATE-AF) Team. Effect of Digoxin vs Bisoprolol for Heart Rate Control in Atrial Fibrillation on Patient-Reported Quality of Life: The RATE-AF Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2020 Dec 22;324(24):2497-2508. doi: 10.1001 /jama.2020.23138. PMID: 33351042; PMCID: PMC7756234.
  6. Montone RA, Vetrugno V, Camilli M, Russo M, Fracassi F, Khan SQ, Doshi SN, Townend JN, Ludman PF, Trani C, Niccoli G, Crea F. Macrophage infiltrates in coronary plaque erosion and cardiovascular outcome in patients with acute coronary syndrome. Atherosclerosis. 2020 Oct;311:158-166. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2020.08.009. Epub 2020 Sep 1. PMID: 32948317.
  7. Price AM, Greenhall GHB, Moody WE, Steeds RP, Mark PB, Edwards NC, Hayer MK, Pickup LC, Radhakrishnan A, Law JP, Banerjee D, Campbell T, Tomson CRV, Cockcroft JR, Shrestha B, Wilkinson IB, Tomlinson LA, Ferro CJ, Townend JN; EARNEST investigators. Changes in Blood Pressure and Arterial Hemodynamics following Living Kidney Donation. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2020 Sep 7;15(9):1330-1339. doi: 10.2215/CJN.15651219. Epub 2020 Aug 25. PMID: 32843374; PMCID: PMC7480552.
  8. Radhakrishnan A, Price AM, Pickup LC, Law JP, McGee KC, Fabritz L, Senior R, Steeds RP, Ferro CJ, Townend JN. Coronary flow velocity reserve and inflammatory markers in living kidney donors. Int J Cardiol. 2020 Dec 1;320:141-147. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2020.08.013. Epub 2020 Aug 14. PMID: 32805328; PMCID: PMC7584109.
  9. Hayer MK, Radhakrishnan A, Price AM, Liu B, Baig S, Weston CJ, Biasiolli L, Ferro CJ, Townend JN, Steeds RP, Edwards NC; Birmingham Cardio-Renal Group. Defining Myocardial Abnormalities Across the Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease: A Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2020 Nov;13(11):2357-2367. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2020.04.021. Epub 2020 Jul 15. PMID: 32682713; PMCID: PMC7607516.
  10. Law JP, Price AM, Pickup L, Radhakrishnan A, Weston C, Jones AM, McGettrick HM, Chua W, Steeds RP, Fabritz L, Kirchhof P, Pavlovic D, Townend JN, Ferro CJ. Clinical Potential of Targeting Fibroblast Growth Factor-23 and αKlotho in the Treatment of Uremic Cardiomyopathy. J Am Heart Assoc. 2020 Apr 7;9(7):e016041. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.120.016041. Epub 2020 Mar 26. Erratum in: J Am Heart Assoc. 2020 Jul 21;9(14):e014566. PMID: 32212912; PMCID: PMC7428638.