Nicola Smart

Nicola Smart is a Professor of Cardiovascular Science at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics (DPAG) and Christ Church College. Her research focuses on cardiac regeneration and vascular development, leveraging insights from embryonic heart studies to address adult heart repair. She leads the Smart Group and collaborates with institutions like the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Centre of Research Excellence and the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine (IDRM).

Education: PhD in PKC signaling from the University of London, followed by postdoctoral research at King’s College London and UCL-Institute of Child Health. Joined DPAG in 2012 and holds a BHF Senior Basic Science Research Fellowship (renewed for 5 years).

Research Interests: Reactivating epicardial progenitors for cardiac repair, understanding vascular stability, and translating developmental mechanisms into therapies. Key areas include thymosin β4’s role in vascular protection, coronary vessel formation, and cardiac progenitor cell activation.

Awards: BHF Research Fellow of the Year (2011), British Cardiovascular Society’s Michael Davies Early Career Award (2012), and British Atherosclerosis Society John French Lecture (2021).

Labs/Teams: Leads the Smart Group, focusing on cardiac regeneration and vascular biology. Collaborates with industry and philanthropic groups like the Fleming family, who support BHF initiatives.