Cathy Shanahan

Professor Cathy Shanahan serves as the London Centre for Nanotechnology Chair in Cellular Signalling at King's College London's School of Cardiovascular Medicine & Sciences (Denmark Hill campus). With over 17,637 citations and an extensive research portfolio, she leads significant investigations into vascular biology and cardiovascular disease mechanisms. Her work bridges the London Centre for Nanotechnology (a joint venture between King's College London and University College London) with cardiovascular medicine, focusing on cellular signaling pathways in vascular pathologies.

Her primary research interests center on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) biology, particularly the molecular regulation of VSMC phenotype and its relationship to vascular dysfunction in diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, hypertension, chronic renal failure, and aging. Her work has demonstrated that human VSMCs undergo phenotypic transitions both in vitro and in vivo, converting from contractile cells to a pan-mesenchymal state capable of expressing multiple lineage markers. A major focus involves vascular calcification processes, which her research has shown to be a regulated process similar to bone formation, with VSMCs expressing osteoblast and chondrocyte markers during calcification.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals a strong trajectory toward understanding the molecular mechanisms of vascular aging, calcification, and the role of extracellular vesicles in cell-to-cell communication. Her work increasingly integrates epigenetic regulation, mechanotransduction, and metabolic pathways in vascular pathology, with recent emphasis on nesprin proteins, heterochromatin loss in vascular inflammaging, and the FNDC1-NAMPT-NAD axis in arterial disease.

Professor Shanahan leads five active research projects totaling significant funding from organizations including the British Heart Foundation, Leducq Foundation, and Medical Research Council. Current projects include 'Unravelling the impact of the aged extracellular matrix microenvironment on vascular smooth muscle cell pathological change' (2025-2028) and the 'Calcification-Omics, Molecular Elucidation, & Therapeutics (COMET) Network' (2025-2029), which represents a major international collaborative effort.

Her laboratory investigates the role of nesprins in cardiovascular cell functions including the cell cycle, cell migration, cell aging, and nuclear and cytoplasmic signaling pathways. This work connects vascular biology with nuclear envelope disorders (laminopathies) including muscular dystrophies, cardiomyopathies, lipodystrophies and progeria syndromes.