Dr Andrew P Holmes BMedsc PhD

Dr Andrew P Holmes

Department of Biomedical Sciences
Lecturer in Cardiac and Respiratory Physiology
Next Generation Biotechnology Theme Lead

Contact details

Address
Institute of Clinical Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Andrew Holmes is a Lecturer in Cardiac and Respiratory Physiology in the Institute of Clinical Sciences.

His research interests are in the field of cardiovascular and respiratory physiology and pathology, with an emphasis on identifying novel mechanisms underlying hypertension and cardiac arrhythmia.

Dr Holmes has a key research focus on evaluating how cardiorespiratory reflex dysfunction caused by hyperactive carotid body chemoreceptors promotes hypertension and cardiac autonomic dysfunction. He aims to develop new or repurposed therapies that directly target the carotid body to reduce hypertension and arrhythmia in associated diseases such as obstructive sleep apnoea and COPD. This work is currently supported by the Wellcome Trust.

In addition, he has a specific interest in understanding how acute and chronic hypoxia disrupt the electrical integrity of atrial tissue leading to heart rhythm disturbances. This work is currently supported by grants from BHF.  

Dr Holmes is an enthusiastic teacher and contributes to the delivery of both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. He is joint module lead on the Biomedical Science BSc Year 3 module- Hypoxia in Health and Disease.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Medical Science, University of Birmingham, 2013
  • BMedSc (Hons), Class I, University of Birmingham, 2009

Teaching

Dr Holmes is an enthusiastic teacher and understands the importance of delivering high quality research led and research informed content to undergraduate students.

Undergraduate teaching:

  • Biomedical Science BSc
    • Joint Module Lead on Hypoxia in Health and Disease (2018 - present)
    •  Cardiorespiratory 1 and 2 (2013-present)
    • Digestion and Renal Sciences (2018-present)
    • Cellular Biochemistry and Biology (2018-present)
  • Medicine and Surgery MBChB 
    • Introduction to Respiratory Medicine (2018- present)
    • Cardiovascular Sciences (2018- present)
    • Digestion (2018- present)
  • Dental Surgery BDS
    • Cardiovascular Pharmacology (2018- present)

Small group laboratory practical sessions:

  • Biomedical Science BSc
    • Studying the alterations in electrical properties of atrial cardiomyocytes induced by hypoxia and re-oxygenation (2014- present).

Dr Holmes also currently supervises undergraduates working on their final year research projects.

Other activities

  • Member of the Physiological Society
  • Member of the European Society of Cardiology
  • Dr Holmes is a tutor on the Access to Birmingham (A2B) Scheme that aims to encourage under-privileged students to consider and prepare for admission into a medical/scientific degree course.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Roy, A, Cumberland, M, O'Shea, C, Holmes, A, Kalla, M, Gehmlich, K, Geberhiwot, T & Steeds, R 2024, 'Arrhythmogenesis in Fabry Disease', Current cardiology reports. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-024-02053-2

Cumberland, M, Euchner, J, Azad, A, Vo, NTN, Kirchhof, P, Holmes, A, Denning, C & Gehmlich, K 2024, 'Generation of a human iPSC-derived cardiomyocyte/fibroblast engineered heart tissue model [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]', F1000Research, vol. 12, 1224. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.139482.1

Sommerfeld, LC, Holmes, AP, Yu, TY, O'Shea, C, Kavanagh, DM, Pike, JM, Wright, T, Syeda, F, Aljehani, A, Kew, T, Cardoso, VR, Kabir, SN, Hepburn, C, Menon, PR, Broadway‐Stringer, S, O'Reilly, M, Witten, A, Fortmueller, L, Lutz, S, Kulle, A, Gkoutos, GV, Pavlovic, D, Arlt, W, Lavery, GG, Steeds, R, Gehmlich, K, Stoll, M, Kirchhof, P & Fabritz, L 2024, 'Reduced plakoglobin increases the risk of sodium current defects and atrial conduction abnormalities in response to androgenic anabolic steroid abuse', The Journal of Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1113/jp284597

Holmes, AP & Kumar, P 2023, 'Low sugar and the drive to breathe: Is insulin another adequate stimulus for the carotid body?', Experimental Physiology, vol. 108, no. 2, pp. 167-168. https://doi.org/10.1113/EP091008

Cumberland, M, Riebel, LL, Roy, A, O'Shea, C, Holmes, A, Denning, C, Kirchhof, P, Rodriguez, B & Gehmlich, K 2022, 'Basic Research Approaches to Evaluate Cardiac Arrhythmia in Heart Failure and Beyond', Frontiers in Physiology, vol. 13, 806366. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.806366

Al-Maswary, AA, O'Reilly, M, Holmes, AP, Walmsley, AD, Cooper, PR & Scheven, BA 2022, 'Exploring the neurogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells', PLoS ONE, vol. 17, no. 11, e0277134. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277134

O'Reilly, M, Sommerfeld, LC, O'Shea, C, Broadway-Stringer, S, Andaleeb, S, Reyat, JS, Kabir, SN, Stastny, D, Malinova, A, Delbue, D, Fortmueller, L, Gehmlich, K, Pavlovic, D, Skryabin, BV, Holmes, AP, Kirchhof, P & Fabritz, L 2022, 'Familial atrial fibrillation mutation M1875T-SCN5A increases early sodium current and dampens the effect of flecainide', EP Europace. https://doi.org/10.1093/europace/euac218

O’Shea, C, Winter, J, Kabir, SN, O’Reilly, M, Wells, SP, Baines, O, Sommerfeld, LC, Correia, J, Lei, M, Kirchhof, P, Holmes, AP, Fabritz, L, Rajpoot, K & Pavlovic, D 2022, 'High resolution optical mapping of cardiac electrophysiology in pre-clinical models', Scientific Data, vol. 9, no. 1, 135. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01253-1

O'Brien, S-M, Holmes, A, Johnson, D, Kabir, SN, O'Shea, C, O'Reilly, M, Avezzu, A, Reyat, J, Hall, AW, Apicella, C, Ellinor, PT, Niederer, S, Tucker, NR, Fabritz, L, Kirchhof, P & Pavlovic, D 2022, 'Increased atrial effectiveness of flecainide conferred by altered biophysical properties of sodium channels', Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, vol. 166, pp. 23-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjmcc.2022.01.009

Abstract

Briggs, D, Hunt, J, Raut, S, Saleeb-Mousa, J, Coney, A, Kalla, M, Holmes, A & Brain, K 2024, 'High-resolution ex-vivo structural and functional analysis of sympathetic innervation using a novel confocal fluorescence technique', Congress of The International Society for Autonomic Neuroscience, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 25/07/24 - 27/07/24 pp. 177-177. <https://airdrive.eventsair.com/eventsairwesteuprod/production-uobevents-public/88221d9f811643979a2503a63fee9877>

Conference contribution

Aldossary, HS, Nieves, DJ, Kavanagh, DM, Owen, D, Ray, CJ, Kumar, P, Coney, AM & Holmes, AP 2023, Analyzing Angiotensin II Receptor Type 1 Clustering in PC12 Cells in Response to Hypoxia Using Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (dSTORM). in SV Conde, R Iturriaga, R del Rio, E Gauda & EC Monteiro (eds), Arterial Chemoreceptors: Mal(adaptive) Responses: O2 Dependent and Independent Mechanisms. 1 edn, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol. 1427, Springer, pp. 175-184, ISAC XXI 2022, Lisbon, Portugal, 27/06/22. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32371-3_19

Review article

Sha, R, Baines, O, Hayes, A, Tompkins, K, Kalla, M, Holmes, AP, O'Shea, C & Pavlovic, D 2024, 'Impact of Obesity on Atrial Fibrillation Pathogenesis and Treatment Options', Journal of the American Heart Association, vol. 13, no. 1, e032277. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.123.032277

Baines, O, Sha, R, Kalla, M, Holmes, AP, Efimov, IR, Pavlovic, D & O’Shea, C 2024, 'Optical mapping and optogenetics in cardiac electrophysiology research and therapy: a state-of-the-art review', Europace, vol. 26, no. 2, euae017, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1093/europace/euae017

Saleeb-Mousa, J, Nathanael, D, Coney, AM, Kalla, M, Brain, KL & Holmes, AP 2023, 'Mechanisms of Atrial Fibrillation in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea', Cells, vol. 12, no. 12, 1661. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12121661

Holmes, AP, Swiderska, A, Nathanael, D, Aldossary, HS, Ray, CJ, Coney, AM & Kumar, P 2022, 'Are multiple mitochondrial related signalling pathways involved in carotid body oxygen sensing?', Frontiers in Physiology, vol. 13, 908617. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.908617

View all publications in research portal