BSc (hons), MBChB, FRCP (Lon), FRCP (Ed),
MD, MPhil (Cantab), FACC, FESC, FAHA, FMedSci
Professor of Public Health
Prof. Kausik Ray
One of the most pre-eminent preventative cardiologists in the world, with over 160,000 citations for my research and over 400 publications in top-quality peer-reviewed journals, I am the Professor of Public Health and Honorary Cardiologist at Imperial College London and President of the European Atherosclerosis Society and have recently been elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).
Announcements
22nd March 2024
Bempedoic Acid: FDA and EMA approval
I am very excited to announce that Bempedoic Acid, an oral cholesterol-lowering medication, has been approved by both the European Medicines Agency and the Food and Drug Administration for prevention of cardiovascular disease. This follows our pivotal work in the CLEAR OUTCOMES trial with multiple key publications in the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Diabetes, JAMA and JAMA Cardiology. This medication is particularly useful for those who cannot tolerate statins, or for those who require more than one cholesterol-lowering medication to achieve targets. This is the first oral cholesterol-lowering drug to be approved globally in a decade and is absolutely great news for patients.
15th November 2023
Top 0.1% of world's researchers for 6th consecutive year
Each year, Clarivate identifies the world’s most influential researchers ─ the select few who have been most frequently cited by their peers over the last decade. In 2023, fewer than 7,000, or about 0.1%, of the world's researchers, in 21 research fields and across multiple fields, have earned this exclusive distinction.
I have the immense pleasure in confirming I am among this elite group recognized for my exceptional research influence, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science.
1st September 2023
Australian plan...
I was recently invited by the Australian Minister for Health to participate in the Australian Government's Targeted Translation Research Accelerator Research Plan, an international independent Expert Advisory Panel tasked with shaping $77.5million in funding to improve care and outcomes for Australians with diabetes and cardiovascular disease:
Announcement Plan in full Letter of thanks from the Minister
18th May 2023
Prof Kausik Ray FMedSci
I have the absolute pleasure to announce that, on 18th May this year, I was elected a fellow of the Royal Academy of Medical Sciences. This huge honour is bestowed upon medical professionals for the "excellence of their science, their contribution to medicine and society and the range of their achievements". Keenly competitive and highly regarded, the Academy only consists of 1,261 fellows and I was one of only 59 scientists elected in 2023.
Academy of Medical Sciences Summary of Achievements Short CV
14th October 2022
WHF Global Cholesterol Roadmap
Today the World Heart Federation (WHF) is launching a new Roadmap, authored by myself and others, aimed at reducing the global burden of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, a condition responsible for 85% of the 18.6 million cardiovascular disease-related deaths worldwide annually. Atherosclerosis is silent and is caused by high cholesterol that develops throughout a person’s lifespan and can lead to sudden death. The new WHF Roadmap for Cholesterol shows how targeting cholesterol can help reduce atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and save lives.
I had the immense pleasure of presenting this Roadmap for the first time at the recent World Congress of Cardiology in Rio; my key message: "It is what we do now that will preserve and protect our future. By starting to manage cholesterol levels earlier you preserve health instead of treating disease". I look forward to working with my global colleagues to implement the pragmatic, scalable solutions outlined and to start to reduce both the human suffering and societal and fiscal costs this disease presents.
1st-2nd September 2022
WHO Health Summit, Geneva
I am incredibly honoured to have been invited to participate in this year's 'H20 Summit' in Geneva, in which G20 policymakers, international organisations, the global health community, the private sector, economists, civil Society, and academia joined discussions and made concrete recommendations to the G20 ahead of the remaining ministerial meetings for 2022. I was amongst such luminaries as Tedros Ghebreysus (Director-General of the WHO) and Baroness Patricia Scotland (Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations) and am excited to be able to contribute to influencing the global direction of healthcare and outcomes.
25th May 2022
EAS Congress in Milan, 2022: an overwhelming success!
It is with great pride and pleasure that we bring to a close the first in-person EAS Congress for a couple of years, which saw 1,400 in-person participants (and many more virtual participants) from all over the world attend hugely well-received educational sessions. Amazing science and excellent speakers made this Congress one to remember, and I cannot thank my EAS Executive, committees and office enough for all their hard work.
For a taste of what went on and a look at an educational video I recorded on a novel and very exciting therapy whilst there, please do click below:
Opening ceremony speech EAS Congress 2022 Novel lipid-lowering therapy
12th May 2022
Imperial College London: #1 UK Research Institution
It is with enormous pleasure that I can announce that Imperial College London ranks #1 in the UK in the REF (Research Excellence Framework) for Research Outputs, Research Environment and Research Impact amongst Russell Group Universities. This places it number 1 in the UK above the London School of Economics (#3), the University of Cambridge (joint #3) and the University of Oxford (#7).
With the highest REF return in the entire Faculty of Medicine, I am extremely proud to have contributed to this result, and will continue to do so for as long as I can.
Times Higher Education Imperial College London REF background
1st April 2022
NHS England - senior leadership consultant
I have the honour to announce that I have been appointed as a senior leadership consultant for an NHS England initiative to advise and guide the effective implementation of inclisiran across England, thus ensuring all those who are eligible and most need this medication are able to access it.
26th January 2022
A Plea to President Macron
Cardiovascular Disease continues to be the #1 cause of death in Europe and around the World. To this end, FH Europe - an umbrella organisation of international patient networks working to secure early detection and diagnosis of Familial Hypercholesterolaemia - has sent a letter, signed by leading international organisations and experts (including myself), to President Emmanuel Macron. We are urging him to implement early screening for FH for all citizens in order that many heart attacks, strokes and deaths will be prevented:
20th December 2021
EAS Presidential Year In Review
As my first year as President of the European Atherosclerosis Society draws to a close, I take a look back at everything the Society has achieved this year, despite challenging circumstances. I am incredibly proud of everything we have accomplished, both individually and as a team, and know that this will drive us on to even greater things over the next 3 years:
17th November 2021
Clarivate Analytics: top 0.1% of global authors for 4th year
Each year, Clarivate™ identifies the world’s most influential researchers ─ the select few who have been most frequently cited by their peers over the last decade. In 2021, fewer than 6,700, or about 0.1%, of the world's researchers, in 21 research fields and across multiple fields, have earned this exclusive distinction.
I am incredibly proud to have been named among this elite group recognized for my exceptional research influence for the 4th year in a row, as demonstrated by the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science™.
1st October 2021
Hyperlipidemias: 'World Expert'
I have recently been named by ExpertScape as one of the top 0.014% of 70,949 global scholars writing on hyperlipidemias, based upon PubMed-based algorithms on 58 of my research papers published since 2011:
16th September 2021
A Momentous Day for the UK
Today the first ever patient in the UK (outside of a clinical trial) received the first dose of Inclisiran (LEQVIO) in my clinic, heralding a new and exciting medicine in our fight against cholesterol and heart disease.
8th September 2021
Global FH registry: detecting the most common genetic condition in the world
Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is a genetically inherited condition which means 1 in 311 people worldwide have severely raised bad cholesterol levels from the day they are born. Unfortunately not many people are aware of it, it is not routinely tested for and is not treated aggressively enough, with women being diagnosed with the condition far later than men. This leads to thousands of early heart attacks each year which could easily be prevented, but implementation of WHO guidelines (from 1998!) is frustratingly slow.
Since 2015 I have worked tirelessly with the EAS to set up the first global registry (FH studies collaboration: 'FHSC') to collect hard data on 42,000 people from 56 countries who suffer from FH. This data shows that there are age and sex differences in detection and treatment: most people were 40+ years of age when they were diagnosed, which means they have missed out on 40+ years of life-saving cholesterol-lowering treatment. For people with such high cholesterol, this should mean a combination of at least statins + ezetimibe (+ preferably more medication) to really reduce their bad (LDL) cholesterol as much as possible, for as many years as possible.
Today these findings have been published in The Lancet. Thank you to all the global investigators who have worked so hard over the last 6 years; we will continue to work to impact upon global policy to ensure this disease does not claim so many lives prematurely.
Please do read about it here:
EAS-FHSC Lancet press release The Lancet - paper Intro video
1st September 2021
Inclisiran: the game-changer for bad cholesterol
After many years of research and having been the lead investigator on extensive global clinical trials, I have the huge pleasure in announcing that, from today, Inclisiran will be available on the NHS to patients who have already suffered a cardiac event and who have persistent LDL (bad) cholesterol of 2.6 mmol/L or above, despite taking statins and/or other medications. This first-of-its-kind agreement between the manufacturer (Novartis) and the NHS means this medication will be available to around 300,000 patients, potentially saving countless future events and lives. It is extremely safe and, even though it is conveniently given as an injection just twice a year, reduces LDL cholesterol by an average of 50%. Do read the press coverage here:
Front pages:
The Daily Telegraph The Daily Mirror The Times The Daily Express
Other:
The Independent The Guardian The Telegraph Novartis press release Expert reaction
3rd August 2021
The 100,000 Club
I am immensely proud to announce that I have just passed 100,000 citations for my work. The number of citations an academic paper receives is used as a measure of its influence and is often used as a proxy for impact or quality, as papers published in higher quality academic journals generally tend to be cited more. To have been involved, over a lifetime, in various trials, which have lead to collaborations on myriad papers, which have ultimately lead to this achievement, is something I will be celebrating this weekend!
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dD9BtpwAAAAJ&hl=en
11th March 2021
And then the world changed forever, welcome to the future...
Dr Theo van Berkel, of Leiden University (Amsterdam) recently wrote an article on the background story of the development of Inclisiran. Here is an excerpt celebrating the first dose being given recently:
"And then the world changed forever, welcome to the future’’. These are the words that Kausik Ray (President of the European Atherosclerosis Society) spoke when the worldwide first dose of inclisiran, a novel SiRNA based cholesterol lowering agent, was administered at the Cardiology lipid clinic at the University of Vienna. The SiRNA , provided with a GalNAc anchor for targeting to the liver, lowers PCSK9, a protein that normally degrades the LDL-receptor. This leads to upregulation of the LDL-receptor in the liver and consequently to a 50% lowering of LDL cholesterol in the blood. Due to the novel mechanism of action two injections/year are sufficient. Such an administration frequency mimics the protocol for vaccination, only 2 shots a year for control of cholesterol!"
8th February 2021
FindMyLipidClinic.com
Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) has a prevalence of 1:311 but globally unfortunately less than 1% of cases have been identified.
To improve FH detection, diagnosis and referrals to specialist clinics and to direct patients to support groups, locally, nationally and internationally, I have developed the following service for patients and clinicians. It is now live, so please do feel free to use it:
https://findmylipidclinic.com/#/patient-interface/practitioners
1st January 2021
President, European Atherosclerosis Society
I am honoured and delighted to take on the role of President of the European Atherosclerosis Society - a global organisation which is committed to the following activities and initiatives:
"For more than 50 years the Society’s expertise has been used to teach clinicians how to manage lipid disorders and how to prevent atherosclerosis. Through our publications, EAS creates a framework for discussion of new developments in the field. With live and online educational activities, EAS supports exchange of knowledge between scientists and clinicians. By reaching out to involve young scientists and researchers also from related disciplines we strengthen and expand development of the field now and in the future. The EAS-Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Studies Collaboration (EAS-FHSC) is a global registry established to accurately and reliably investigate the burden of FH, how FH is detected and managed, and the clinical consequences of current practices on delivery of care and outcomes. These activities will ultimately lead to improved healthcare for persons with cardiovascular disease and lipid disorders."
Together with a new Executive Committee and dedicated staff at the EAS central office, we hope to make significant progress in research and education about the leading cause of death and disability globally, and improve implementation of preventive strategies at a global level.
30th December 2020
NEJM Most Notable Articles 2020
I have received the incredible distinction of one of my papers being included in this year's exclusive list of the New England Journal of Medicine's Most Notable Articles.
Each one of the 13 peer-reviewed articles on the list, as voted for by the editors of the Journal, is considered Practice-Changing, i.e. that they will impact upon the practice of medicine globally.
The paper in question is attached herewith, please do feel free to read it:
There is a new class of cholesterol-lowering medicine which will soon be available and could help people who need their cholesterol lowering further, those who cannot tolerate statins, or those who can't afford expensive injections. I and my colleagues recently published two papers in the New England Journal of Medicine showing the largest evidence of safety and effectiveness of this new treatment, called Bempedoic Acid. Read the media coverage here:
A study was badly reported in the media recently, with deliberately shocking headlines claiming "half of those on statins won't have 'healthy' cholesterol after two years' of taking the pills". Fortunately I had the opportunity to correct journalists' interpretation of the (purely observational) study and respond to headlines which must have worried a vast number of statin users. In short, you have to be on the correct dose and take the medication every day for it to be effective. If you are on a dose which is too low and you don't take the pills every day, then you obviously will not achieve the desired outcome. Coverage:
The Lancet recently published a study about the 'Polypill', a cost-effective single pill combining four drugs which helps to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol and shows some cardiovascular benefits, such as reducing the risk of heart attacks, strokes and sudden death. Although the trial and implications are more relevant for low- and middle-income countries, in the UK as many as a third of people with high blood pressure are undiagnosed and, amongst those who are diagnosed, many don't manage their condition properly. Coverage:
In the News
I presented the 18 month safety and efficacy data of the ORION-11 trial, which is testing the cholesterol-lowering drug, inclisiran, for safety. The drug shows remarkable results - with an initial injection, one at 3 months and thereafter one jab every 6 months - patients had an average reduction of cholesterol of 54% with, most importantly, no adverse safety signals. This is a novel and very exciting treatment which should make a huge difference in the lives of everyone with high cholesterol, particularly those who cannot tolerate statins and those who struggle to remember to take their medications on a daily basis. Full media coverage:
I had the honour of being invited to the BBC World News and the BBC World Service to discuss a ground-breaking collaboration between Novartis and the NHS: once approved, tens of thousands of NHS patients will be supplied with Inclisiran, the twice-yearly cholesterol-lowering injection I have led the development of. Up to 30,000 lives could be saved over a decade thanks to this pioneering initiative to tackle UK heart disease. Press release with full details, plus recording of the TV interview:
The Daily Mail has recently investigated three prominent UK Statin Deniers and their devastating effect upon the health of members of the public, thousands of whom continue to have a far higher risk of a heart attack or stroke because these unqualified persons have cast so much doubt upon statins' efficacy in their ongoing anti-statin propaganda. These three have been condemned by the Health Secretary (who called their claims 'pernicious lies') and 30 Editors-In-Chief of major heart-health journals. Read the articles here:
On 18th March the three pivotal phase 3 trials of Inclisiran, the first in class siRNA-based therapeutic for cholesterol-lowering (ORION-9, 10, 11) were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The largest of these, ORION-11, led by myself, studied populations with established cardiovascular disease and high-risk primary prevention patients in 7 countries across Europe and South Africa. This trial showed that 6-monthly injections of Inclisiran safely reduce LDL (ie bad) cholesterol by over half. The same findings were observed in the ORION-10 trial, conducted in the US, and in the ORION-9 trial, conducted in people with Familial Hypercholesterolaemia. This new approach could revolutionise cholesterol management for millions around the world and is now being considered for approval in the US and Europe. As follows links to the publications in the New England Journal of Medicine and related press coverage:
Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an inherited disease that affects how the body breaks down LDL-cholesterol. But it’s unclear how many people live with the condition without knowing. A team led by myself carried out the largest meta-analysis to date to estimate the global prevalence of FH. Our findings, published this week, reveal the condition is more prevalent than previously thought. As follows the paper and related press coverage:
My recent paper looking at statins dose and adherence, and cardiovascular deaths, as published in JAMA Network Open, was universally acclaimed within the scientific community and widely reported in the British press; even garnering a front page on both the iPaper and Express. Full coverage:
Over the past few years I have helped lead the development of a revolutionary new tablet to lower bad cholesterol, which has just been given approval by NICE. Bempedoic Acid will be able to be used by adults with primary hypercholesterolaemia or mixed dyslipidemia who are unable to tolerate statins. It is the first new such treatment in over 10 years and should make a difference to the cardiovascular risk of up to 70,000 patients. Please do read coverage here:
I had the pleasure of being interviewed by BBC Inside Health for an in-depth program they made about gene 'silcencing'. Inside Health is a program which discussed topical health issues which sometimes may be difficult to understand. It was aired on Tuesday 19th October 2021 on BBC Radio 4; please do listen here:
For the 2022 World Heart Day I was pleased to collaborate with ITN News to convey important clinical messages around understanding and managing cholesterol in those who have experienced a CVD event. Please do watch the final news segment here:
I am immensely proud to announce that, at the recent American College of Cardiology Conference in New Orleans, we showed results from trials of the new Esperion medication, Bempedoic Acid, on the same day that our paper was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The results have shown that Bempedoic Acid slashes the risk of heart attacks and strokes by 15%, which is amazing news as it is an alternative for patients who are intolerant of statins, or who need multiple medications in order to bring their cholesterol levels down. Please do read the paper and see the coverage here:
I was recently asked to provide an expert opinion on the statins debate by Virgin Media television; in this article I set out the minor side effects which occur, how common they are (evidence backed up by large randomised controlled trials), and how effective statins are at preventing future cardiovascular events, particularly in those who have already had a heart attack or stroke. Hopefully this will help people make the best decision for their own health:
My Latest Research
Please do read my recent publication on how sustained control of LDL cholesterol with a treatment administered by a health care professional becomes the model of care for people with established cardiovascular disease and the shifts at the level of the population to lower risk groups. This means they are likely to have fewer events:
I am pleased to announce that a group of us have just been published in the Lancet, with a paper highlighting the seriousness and under-treatment of homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HoFH) - the most serious form of genetically high cholesterol. Those who suffer with it have a painfully high cholesterol from birth, and by 12 years of age 1 in 10 have already had heart bypass surgery of aortic valve disease. Read about it here:
I was very kindly invited to do Grand Rounds at one of the most respected medical institutions in the world, Massachusets General Hospital. Grand Rounds are a formal meeting which serve as a form of medical education for clinicians and students, and are highly prestigious events which feature and invite only the most pre-eminent physicians in the world. Do watch my Grand Rounds presentation and an interview here:
Among people with a prior history or heart or vascular disease despite medications a significant residual risk of recurrent events and dying remains high. As with anything individual risk varies. To allow more reliable quantification yet, the SMART tool was validated in the largest study yet using GP data in the UK in 380 000 people. It shows that in men and women using routinely captured data the observed risk corresponds closely to that predicted by the tool meaning it could be used easily in routine clinical practice. Moreover, by knowing the risk, newer often more expensive treatments which are sometimes restricted could be better targeted to those that derive the greatest benefit. Insurers, healthcare providers as well as patients and doctors could therefore for a given cost of a therapy reliably identify risk thresholds, therefore how many people would be offered treatment and hence how many adverse events avoided.
The first safe and effective gene silencing therapy for cholesterol-lowering, Inclisiran, is starting to become approved globally. Our most recent paper, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, pools data from 3 trials (ORION 9, 10 and 11) and 3,600 patients. It shows that a 6-monthly injection maintains annualised reductions in bad cholesterol of around 52% and has a good safety profile comparable to placebo.
Please do read the paper here:
I recently recorded a short discussion in which I discuss what the latest research tells us about LDL-C ('bad' cholesterol) targets. Watch it here:
At this year's American Heart Association Congress, Philadelphia, I presented the most recent data from the BETonMACE trial which I am leading. Read the results here:
At the recent ESC in Paris, I discuss the results of the Phase 3 ORION-11 trial: the impact of Inclisiran on LDL-C over 18 months in patients with ASCVD or equivalent. Watch it here:
Please do watch my key takeaways from the recent EASD conference: cardiac risk reduction should be a priority for diabetic patients and the importance of cardiometabolic disease management:
I am pleased to announce my latest paper, "Pharmacological Lipid Modification Therapies for the Prevention of Ischaemic Heart Disease-Current and Future Options"published in the Lancet is available to read now:
Please do read a recent paper authored by myself and my visiting international fellow, published in the Journal Frontiers of Medicine, explaining new therapies and methods to lower bad cholesterol:
I am happy to announce my paper showing gaps in care and how care needs to be simplified: "EU-Wide cross-sectional observational study of lipid-modifying therapy use in secondary and primary care: the DA VINCI study" is one of the top 5 papers downloaded from the EJPC in 2021, and continues to shape health policy globally.
I also recorded a program at the ESC on the results of the ORION data for Medscape, discussing siRNA (emerging gene silencing therapies) and PCSK9s:
I recently presented results for THEMIS at the ESC, a trial which has helped define the role of anti-platelet therapy in those with CAD and Type 2 Diabetes. Watch here (password: AZesc2019):
I am delighted to announce that my paper on global insulin use has just been published in the Journal of Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. Read it here:
Read about my global FH initiative in this EAS publication. 1 in 250 people globally have genetically determined elevations in cholesterol - get screened now.
I am proud to announce my paper explaining the common mechanism through which triglycerides and cholesterol increase heart disease has just been published in JAMA. Read it here:
I spoke about Bempedoic Acid at this year's ESC; watch my interview with Radcliffe Cardiology here:
At this year's ESC I talked about Statins, Diabetes and Glucose Metabolism: Challenging Cases and Considerations and also about Statins and the Elderly. Watch both videos here:
At the recent American Diabetes Association Congress I discussed Statins, Diabetes and Glucose Metabolism - watch it here:
I was delighted to be included in the ESC's "Best of 2017" research roundup, for our research on prediction of CV events in FH patients
I discuss micro- and macrovascular disease in type 2 diabetes, the implications and risk modification with new glucose-lowering agents
I was interviewed at the 2017 American Heart Association Congress on High vs Moderate dosing for the secondary prevention of coronary artery disease:
Listen to a recent CIRCULATION Podcast outlining analyses from the WOSCOPS trial and the importance of LDL-C lowering for the primary prevention of CV disease amongst men.
I was interviewed about the efficacy and safety of Alirocumab in patients with diabetes at the recent EASD Congress; watch it here:
During the recent ESC I spoke with Congress Report about the CLEAR Harmony, a trial testing a new therapeutic compound for patients with high CV risk. Watch my summary here:
I recently had the honour of saying a few words at my good friend Prof Kees Hovingh's inaugural speech; watch me speak about Today's Trials and Tomorrow's Treatments:
Watch my discussion on Familial Hypercholesterolaemia for Congress Report at the 2018 EAS Congress, Lisbon.
Watch my presentation at the recent American College of Cardiology congress in which I evaluated the evidence for lower LDL-C goals
Read my research from the WOSCOPS study showing that a small daily dose of statins in primary prevention patients reduces deaths from heart disease in participants by over 25%.
Watch me discuss the analysis of the WOSCOPS study with Lead Author, Dr Antonio Vallejo-Vaz
Watch me talk about the primary results of the Exenatide Study of Cardiovascular Event Lowering at the recent European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Congress
Here I discuss the key take home message of the WOSCOPS study for clinicians: