Nexxus Scotland

Shepherd, Jim

Head of department and Honorary Consultant in Pathological Biochemistry at the University of Glasgow and Royal Infirmary in Glasgow.

Professor Jim Shepherd enjoys world-wide recognition as a pioneer in the cause, prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease.

He exerts significant influence within his field and has participated in many leading research projects and clinical management organisations, including the Advisory Panel of the Coronary Prevention Group in London, and a European Commission Group established to investigate standardisation of lipoprotein measurements in Europe.

Prof  Shepherd is former Chairman of the European Atherosclerosis Society and a founder member of  both the British Hyperlipidaemia Association and the Asian Pacific Scociety of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Disease. However, he is probably best known as Director of the West of Scotland Coronary prevention Study (WOSCOPS).

A graduate of Glasgow University, Prof Shepherd has worked in the US (Baylor College of Medicine, Texas), Europe (Cantonal Hospital, Geneva) and in Scandinavia (University of Helsinki).

Over the last thirty years, Prof Shepherd's work has evolved from the initial investigation of blood fats (such as cholesterol) and the significance / clinical means of lowering them in the bloodstream, to the ways in which different people metabolise blood fats. More recently, he has been involved in investigative trials on the role of vascular inflammation in heart attacks and strokes.

Unfortunately, the West of Scotland where Prof Shepherd lives and works, has one of the worst records of heart disease in the world. This provides plenty of material for study and much of his research has been into the roles played by heredity and environment in the regulation of the levels of fats (like cholesterol) in the blood.  Prof Shepherd's team therefore can offer considerable potential advantage to the local population, both directly for those participating in long-term studies, and indirectly to everyone who might benefit from improved understanding in the longer term.   

Prof Shepherd took a leading role during the 1980s in clinical trials investigating the benefits of cholesterol lowering among people susceptible to heart attacks and strokes. This involved sharing knowledge and expertise with researchers worldwide and resulted in the ground-breaking West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS) which ran from 1988 - 1995.

Since then, Prof Shepherd has significantly evolved this research through "Prosper" - the prospective study of the use of a widely prescribed drug, pravastatin, in mature individuals (aged 70 -82) who had already suffered a heart attack or stroke.

This strongly indicated the beneficial effects of late intervention, as there were significantly fewer coronary episodes in those with reduced cholesterol.

Through the international importance of his work, Prof Shepherd is now a senior adviser to studies in eighteen different countries worldwide and travels extensively to lecture and share his knowledge.

His current challenges include investigations into the relative clinical advantages of lowering blood fats such as cholesterol by a little or a lot through the project "Treating to New Targets." He is also actively investigating the role of inflammation in the narrowing of arteries, leading to heart attacks and strokes.

Prof Shepherd describes this work as "Like putting water on the fire. It's not purely focused on cholesterol but on the body's reaction to cholesterol, even at normal levels. This also has implications for sufferers of diabetes, which is an inflammatory-type disease."

As well as working on new ways of diagnosing vascular disease, Prof Shepherd's team has attracted funding for a range of metabolic studies into how people metabolise blood fats (lipoproteins) differently. This has significant implications for individuals who might wish to modify their diet as a result of improved knowledge. The work has also attracted interest from international food manufacturers, pursuing new dietary products which can be modified for health purposes.

This represents a trend in expanded sources of funding which Prof Shepherd describes as his work "Coming of age. We have never had any real problems attracting funding but over recent years we have moved from academia to working with major drugs companies and food manufacturers in multi-million pound projects." 

Prof Shepherd adds, "Our research network in Scotland spreads worldwide and I am fortunate to be asked to lecture at conferences all over the globe. Our West of Scotland base is ideal however; not only because of the unfortunate wealth of study material among the population but because of the quality of research and clinical work going on around us in the universities and teaching hospitals of Glasgow. "

"For very good reason, the West of Scotland enjoys a strong, international reputation in this field and we play host to some of the most able research students in the world who come to spend time with us." 

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