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Dr Emma F Magavern

NIHR Clinical Academic Lecturer

Centre: Clinical Pharmacology

Email: e.magavern@qmul.ac.uk

Profile

Dr Emma Magavern is a Clinical Lecturer and a Clinical Pharmacology and Internal Medicine doctor. She completed her PhD in pharmacogenomics at the William Harvey Research Institute, QMUL, working with Professor Sir Mark Caulfield and Professor Damian Smedley. She has now been appointed a NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer, splitting her time between 50% clinical work and 50% academic work. She completed a BA in English prior to her MD and subsequent MScs in Bioethics and Genomics. Through training in clinical medicine, humanities, genetics, and pharmacology she has developed an interest in the scientific merits, clinical potential and implementation challenges of pharmacogenomics. She was co-secretary of the Royal College of Physicians/British Pharmacological Society (BPS) working group on pharmacogenomics and led the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) cardiovascular pharmacotherapy working group (CVP) pharmacogenomics position paper. She is part of the newly appointed NHS England Network of Excellence for Pharmacogenomics and a co-lead for the pharmacogenomics section of the Health Education England GeNotes initiative. Her main focus is on leveraging genomic medicine to reduce existing health inequalities. She is also a nucleus member of the ESC CVP and the chair of the BPS SpR Committee.

Research

Medicines do not work well or have side effects for many people who try them. Some of the reason for this variability in medication response is due to common variants in DNA. Large scale research on populations has shown that all of us will have at least one variant in our DNA that would change the approach to medicines use if we needed a specific medicine. Therefore, if we know who has these DNA variants, we can prescribe medicine in a more personalised way avoiding a trial-and-error approach. This can make medicines safer by reducing bad reactions to medications and improving how medicines work for people. My work is focused on understanding more about how and why people with different variants in DNA respond differently to medications. For this field of work to benefit patients the public need to know about this topic and tell the health care teams how we should use this practically in clinical settings in the NHS to benefit patients. Therefore, my work is also focused on communicating with patients and the public about this area of science, curating patient and prescriber information resources, and surveying patient attitudes, concerns, and needs. 

Key Publications

  1. Magavern EF, McDermott, JH, Caulfield, MJ, Newman, WG. CYP2C19 genetic testing for Mavacamten and ischemic stroke treatment: What does the result mean for cardiovascular prescribers in the UK and Europe? Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Pharmacother. 2024. doi: 10.1093/ehjcvp/pvae040.
  2. Magavern EF, Kapil V, Saxena M, Gupta A, Caulfield MJ. Use of Genomics to Develop Novel Therapeutics and Personalize Hypertension Therapy. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2024 Apr;44(4):784-793. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.123.319220.
  3. Tamargo J, Agewall S, Borghi C, Ceconi C, Cerbai E, Dan GA, Ferdinandy P, Grove EL, Rocca B, Magavern E, Sulzgruber P, Semb AG, Sossalla S, Niessner A, Kaski JC, Dobrev D. New pharmacological agents and novel cardiovascular pharmacotherapy strategies in 2023. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Pharmacother. 2024 Feb 20;. doi: 10.1093/ehjcvp/pvae013.
  4. Magavern EF, Hitchings A, Bollington L, Wilson K, Hepburn D, Westacott RJ, Sam AH, Caulfield MJ, Maxwell S. UK Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA): The development, implementation and outcomes of a national online prescribing assessment. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2024 Feb;90(2):493-503. doi: 10.1111/bcp.15919.
  5. Cipriani V, Vestito L, Magavern EF, Jacobsen JO, Arno G, Behr ER, Benson KA, Bertoli M, Bockenhauer D, Bowl MR, Burley K, Chan LF, Chinnery P, Conlon P, Costa M, Davidson AE, Dawson SJ, Elhassan E, Flanagan SE, Futema M, Gale DP, García-Ruiz S, Corcia CG, Griffin HR, Hambleton S, Hicks AR, Houlden H, Houlston RS, Howles SA, Kleta R, Lekkerkerker I, Lin S, Liskova P, Mitchison H, Morsy H, Mumford AD, Newman WG, Neatu R, O'Toole EA, Ong AC, Pagnamenta AT, Rahman S, Rajan N, Robinson PN, Ryten M, Sadeghi-Alavijeh O, Sayer JA, Shovlin CL, Taylor JC, Teltsh O, Tomlinson I, Tucci A, Turnbull C, van Eerde AM, Ware JS, Watts LM, Webster AR, Westbury SK, Zheng SL, Caulfield M, Smedley D. Rare disease gene association discovery from burden analysis of the 100,000 Genomes Project data. 2023 Dec 21;. doi: 10.1101/2023.12.20.23300294.
  6. Magavern EF, van Heel DA, Smedley D, Caulfield MJ. CYP2C19 loss-of-function alleles are not associated with higher prevalence of gastrointestinal bleeds in those who have been prescribed antidepressants: Analysis in a British-South Asian cohort. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2023 Nov;89(11):3432-3438. doi: 10.1111/bcp.15762.
  7. Magavern EF, Durrani F, Raza M, Lerner R, Islam MR, Clinch M, Caulfield MJ. British South Asian ancestry participants views of pharmacogenomics clinical implementation and research: a thematic analysis. Pharmacogenomics J. 2023 Nov;23(6):185-194. doi: 10.1038/s41397-023-00317-8.
  8. Magavern EF, Smedley D, Caulfield MJ. Factor V Leiden, estrogen, and multimorbidity association with venous thromboembolism in a British-South Asian cohort. 2023 Oct 20;26(10):107795. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107795.
  9. Magavern EF, van Heel DA, Smedley D, Caulfield MJ. SLCO1B1*5 is protective against non-senile cataracts in cohort prescribed statins: analysis in a British-South Asian cohort. Pharmacogenomics J. 2023 Sep;23(5):134-139. doi: 10.1038/s41397-023-00307-w.
  10. Magavern EF, Jacobs B, Warren H, Finocchiaro G, Finer S, van Heel DA, Smedley D, Caulfield MJ. CYP2C19 Genotype Prevalence and Association With Recurrent Myocardial Infarction in British-South Asians Treated With Clopidogrel. JACC Adv. 2023 Sep;2(7). doi: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2023.100573.
  11. Magavern EF, Caulfield MJ. Equal access to pharmacogenomics testing: The ethical imperative for population-wide access in the UK NHS. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2023 May;89(5):1701-1703. doi: 10.1111/bcp.15689.
  12. Adeyeye E, Maniero C, Magavern EF, Ferner RE, McGettigan P. Prescribing direct-acting oral anticoagulants - Mind the evidence gap. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2022 Nov;88(11):4724-4731. doi: 10.1111/bcp.15450.
  13. Turner RM, Magavern EF, Pirmohamed M. Pharmacogenomics: Relevance and opportunities for clinical pharmacology. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2022 Sep;88(9):3943-3946. doi: 10.1111/bcp.15329.
  14. Magavern EF, Kaski JC, Turner RM, Drexel H, Janmohamed A, Scourfield A, Burrage D, Floyd CN, Adeyeye E, Tamargo J, Lewis BS, Kjeldsen KP, Niessner A, Wassmann S, Sulzgruber P, Borry P, Agewall S, Semb AG, Savarese G, Pirmohamed M, Caulfield MJ. Challenges in cardiovascular pharmacogenomics implementation: a viewpoint from the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Pharmacother. 2022 Jan 5;8(1):100-103. doi: 10.1093/ehjcvp/pvab063.
  15. Magavern EF, Kaski JC, Turner RM, Drexel H, Janmohamed A, Scourfield A, Burrage D, Floyd CN, Adeyeye E, Tamargo J, Lewis BS, Kjeldsen KP, Niessner A, Wassmann S, Sulzgruber P, Borry P, Agewall S, Semb AG, Savarese G, Pirmohamed M, Caulfield MJ. The role of pharmacogenomics in contemporary cardiovascular therapy: a position statement from the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Pharmacother. 2022 Jan 5;8(1):85-99. doi: 10.1093/ehjcvp/pvab018.
  16. Magavern EF, Gurdasani D, Ng FL, Lee SS. Health equality, race and pharmacogenomics. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2022 Jan;88(1):27-33. doi: 10.1111/bcp.14983.
  17. Magavern EF, Piasecki J, Cohen A, Cremers S. Ethics in clinical pharmacology: Facilitating public trust. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2022 Jan;88(1):5-6. doi: 10.1111/bcp.15118.
  18. Magavern EF, Daly AK, Gilchrist A, Hughes DA. Pharmacogenomics spotlight commentary: From the United Kingdom to global populations. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2021 Dec;87(12):4546-4548. doi: 10.1111/bcp.14917.
  19. Magavern EF, Cremers S. Introduction to clinical pharmacology at large. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2021 Aug;87(8):3026-3027. doi: 10.1111/bcp.14789.
  20. Magavern EF, Kaski JC, Turner RM, Janmohamed A, Borry P, Pirmohamed M. The Interface of Therapeutics and Genomics in Cardiovascular Medicine. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 2021 Jun;35(3):663-676. doi: 10.1007/s10557-021-07149-3.
  21. Magavern EF, Warren HR, Ng FL, Cabrera CP, Munroe PB, Caulfield MJ. An Academic Clinician's Road Map to Hypertension Genomics: Recent Advances and Future Directions MMXX. 2021 Feb;77(2):284-295. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.14535.
  22. Magavern EF, Finocchiaro G, Sharma S, Papadakis M, Borry P. Time out: ethical reflections on medical disqualification of athletes in the context of mandated pre-participation cardiac screening. Br J Sports Med. 2018 Sep;52(18):1207-1210. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-097524.
  23. Vergano M, Magavern E, Zamperetti N. Clinical ethics: what the anesthesiologist and the intensivist need to know. Minerva Anestesiol. 2018 Apr;84(4):515-522. doi: 10.23736/S0375-9393.17.12055-9.
  24. Magavern EF, Badalato L, Finocchiaro G, Borry P. Ethical considerations for genetic testing in the context of mandated cardiac screening before athletic participation. Genet Med. 2017 May;19(5):493-495. doi: 10.1038/gim.2016.146.
  25. Vergano M, Magavern E, Baroncelli F, Frisenda V, Fonsato A, Artusio D, Castioni CA, De Piero ME, Abelli M, Ticozzelli E, Livigni S. Making a case for controlled organ donation after cardiac death: the story of Italy's first experience. J Crit Care. 2017 Apr;38:129-131. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2016.10.028. 

Sponsors

My work is supported by Barts Charity and the Barts NIHR Biomedical Research Centre as well as the NHS England Pharmacogenomics Network of Excellence and Genomics England.

Collaborators

Prof Sir Mark Caulfield; Prof Damian Smedley; Prof David van Heel; Prof Sir Munir Pirmohamed; Prof Juan Carlos Kaski; Dr Valentina Cipriani; Dr Pilar Cachiero; Dr Letizia Vestito; Dr Helen Warren; Dr Claudia Cabrera; Dr Stavroula Kanoni; Prof Bill Newman; Dr John McDermott; Vivienne Parry

News

Podcasts:

Articles:

  • Using genetic testing to improve medicines use after myocardial infarction (Hospital Healthcare)
  • Common heart medication less effective in south Asian People (The Conversation)
  • PGx variants linked to poor Plavix response in UK South Asians renews calls for expanding testing (Precision Medicine Online)
  • Clopidogrel genetics study (Barts Charity)
  • We're celebrating Internationals Women's Day (Barts Charity)
  • Medication used to prevent heart attacks may be ineffective for British South Asians (National Institute for Health and Care Research)
  • Blood thinner to treat heart disease proves ineffective for many South Asian patients due to a mutation in their DNA (Mail Online)
  • Women with 4 key key risk factors at much greater risk of killer blood clots, scientists discover (The Sun)

Patient resources:

Prescriber resources:

Teaching

Dr Magavern teaches for a number of Genomics MSc courses in and around London, including QMUL, Imperial and Cambridge. She is also involved in teaching pharmacology and pharmacogenomics to undergraduate and postgraduate doctors and other health care practitioners. 

Disclosures

No disclosures.

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