Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Anthony Albert joined UEA in 2024 as Associate Professor of Medical Education, where he will be part of the team developing the new Graduate Entry Medicine course which will begin in 2025. Prof Albert will be Year 1 and 2 Lead.
Prof Albert graduated with a BSc in Human Biology from Oxford Brookes University (1990), completed a MSc in Neuroscience at Edinburgh University (1991), and obtained a PhD in Neurophysiology from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London (1997).
Prof Albert joined St George's (1998) as a postdoctoral researcher and was recruited onto academic staff as Senior lecturer (2006) and promoted to Reader in Cell Physiology (2013) and Full Professor of Cardiovascular Science (2018).
Throughout his career, Prof Albert has held various substantive research, teaching, and academic administrative and citizenship roles including chair of academic promotion committee, aurora leadership programme mentor, member of Athena Swan self-assessment team (Silver award), and mental health first aider.
Prof Albert has a PgCert in Healthcare and Biomedical Education (2008), is a Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy (2023), and has been awarded for his excellence in student-centred teaching, particularly his effective lecturing, and pastoral care.
In keeping with his varied academic career, Prof Albert’s professional inaugural lecture was entitled ‘’Borders not barriers; professing values in academic life’’, where he discussed the importance of the personal value of service on his career journey and how this instilled in him the impact of understanding of what you are good for not good at.
Key Research Interests
Professor Albert has over 25 years’ experience investigating how stimulation of receptors on the surface of endothelial (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) regulate ion channels. These cellular processes have a major role in controlling the function of blood vessels and are involved in pathology associated with diseases such as hypertension, angina, stroke, and atherosclerosis. Drugs that alter these cellular pathways may therefore be developed as treatments for cardiovascular disease. Prof Albert’s research has been funded by research awards from British Heart Foundation, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, and Arthritis Research UK, and he has published over 50 research articles.
His research uses multidisciplinary approaches to unravel cellular pathways coupling receptors and ion channels to blood vessel function in both animal and human tissue (obtained followed surgical procedures): freshly isolated single ECs and VSMCs, cell culture, patch clamp electrophysiology, RT-PCR, co-immunoprecipitation, western blotting, proximity ligation assay, phospholipid dot-blot, cell signalling biosensors, confocal microscopy, shRNA/morpholino knockdown of proteins, blocking anti-ion channel antibodies, transgenic mice, wire myography.
Prof Albert's work has centred around three main areas: 1) the properties, activation mechanisms and functions of store-operated TRPC1-mediated channels in VSMCs (see Baudel et al, 2020 for review) and 2) the role of calcium-sensing receptors (see Greenberg et al 2016; 2017; 2019 and Carlton-Carew et al, 2024) and 3) the PIP2-binding protein myristoylated alanine-rich C-kinase sunstrate (MARCKS) on vascular contractility (see Albert et al, 2024 for review).
Teaching Interests
Prof Albert has considerable experience in delivering high-quality and impactful student-focused teaching and learning environments, through student-facing teaching, Year lead and Module lead responsibilities, curriculum and assessment development, and influencing and supporting colleagues. He is a proactive advocate for student welfare through pastoral care and student conduct and compliance involvement.
His educational impact is evidenced by awards and regular student feedback stating >85% of students ‘strongly agree’ that they are satisfied with his teaching, that his teaching is a ‘benchmark’, and that he should provide ‘training on delivering teaching’.
Prof Albert’s educational interests are varied, including the transition from secondary to studying medicine at university, what makes an effective lecture, and how fundamental medical sciences are taught, studied, and assessed within a MBBS course. He also has an interest in equality is education, especially the link between coloniality and whiteness within higher education curricula and institutional structures, and how this may affect exclusivity of student and colleague opportunities and educational journeys.
Current Roles
Year 1 and 2 Lead, Graduate entry medicine, 2024-present
Previous roles and activities (St. George's, University of London)
Year 1, Life Support Module Lead, MBBS, Undergraduate course, 2012-present
Years 1 and 2 Subtheme in Pharmacology Lead, MBBS Undergraduate and Graduate-entry courses, 2009-present
Year 2 Lead, MBBS, Undergraduate course, 2017-2020
Years 1 and 2 representative, Undergraduate MBBS course periodic review and change team, 2018- 2019
St. George’s representative, support UCLan continency partner on developing, implementing, and GMC validation of Years 1 and 2 of their new MBBS course, 2018-2020, external examiner 2020-2024
MBBS intercalated BSc module lead, Novel therapeutic targets for cardiovascular disease, 2014-2018
Lectures (face-to-face, Teams, asynchronous), clinical scenario tutorials, Q&A/expert forums, formative exam feedback sessions on fundamentals of pharmacology, physiology and pharmacology of autonomic nervous system, cardiovascular and renal systems and uterus, and muscle contractile mechanisms
Learning objective writing and maintenance, blueprinting, writing single-best answer questions (SBAs), support/training of colleagues in writing SBAs, item analysis, angoff standard setting, OSCE examiner, special study component tutor
Admission multiple mini-interviews assessments (face-to-face, online)
Senior tutor to students with complex needs
Discretionary panels, assessment appeal panels, student investigations (e.g. as student-designated supporter and fitness to practice investigator)
Mental Health First Aider
Member of Mental Health and Wellbeing Think Tank, ‘The Gathering’ – e.g. involved in Student Union-led event on ‘Mental wellness week: Humans of healthcare’
Education/Academic qualification
Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy
Award Date: 30 Aug 2023
PgCert Healthcare and Biomedical Education, St George's, University of London
Award Date: 30 Aug 2008
PhD Neurophysiology, Royal Free Hospital Medical School, University of London
Award Date: 31 Mar 1997
MSc Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh
Award Date: 30 Aug 1991
BSc Human Biology, Oxford Brookes University
Award Date: 31 Jul 1990
External positions
External examiner, MBBS Phase I, University of Central Lancashire
2019 → 2023
External examiner, MSc Pharmacology, University of Oxford
2018 → 2022
Keywords
- Higher Education
- Medicine (general)
- Anatomy & Physiology
- Pharmacology & Drug Development
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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NALCN: a novel regulator of contractility in rat and human vasculature
1/10/23 → 30/09/26
Project: Research
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Investigations of MARCKS-PIP2-voltage-gated Ca2+ channel pathway in vascular smooth muscle
1/01/23 → 21/06/25
Project: Research
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Investigating the contribution of sodium / inositol transporter-Kv7 channel complexes in arterial function
1/10/21 → 30/09/24
Project: Research
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Investigations into calcium-sensing receptor mechanisms in the vasculature
1/10/17 → 30/09/20
Project: Research
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Crucial role for sensory nerves and Na/H exchanger inhibition in dapagliflozin- and empagliflozin-induced arterial relaxation
Forrester, E. A., Benítez-Angeles, M., Redford, K. E., Rosenbaum, T., Abbott, G. W., Barrese, V., Dora, K., Albert, A. P., Dannesboe, J., Salles-Crawley, I., Jepps, T. A. & Greenwood, I. A., Oct 2024, In: Cardiovascular Research. 120, 14, p. 1811–1824 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus) -
Factors affecting pharmacology learning in integrated PBL in diverse medical students: A mixed methods study
Nicolaou, S. A., Televantou, I., Papageorgiou, A., Albert, A. P., Hitchings, A. W., McCrorie, P. & Nicolaou, P., 21 Mar 2024, In: BMC Medical Education. 24, 324.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)1 Downloads (Pure) -
Role for the PIP2-binding protein myristoylated alanine-rich C-kinase substrate in vascular tissue: A novel therapeutic target for cardiovascular disease
Albert, A. P., Jahan, K. S., Greenberg, H. Z. E. & Shamsaldeen, Y. A., Dec 2024, In: Journal of Cell Communication and Signaling. 18, 4, e12052.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Downloads (Pure) -
Stimulation of the calcium-sensing receptor induces relaxations of rat mesenteric arteries by endothelium-dependent and -independent pathways via BKCa and KATP channels
Carlton-Carew, S. R. E., Greenberg, H. Z. E., Connor, E. J., Zadeh, P., Greenwood, I. A. & Albert, A. P., Jan 2024, In: Physiological Reports. 12, 2, e15926.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (Scopus)4 Downloads (Pure) -
Stimulation of the calcium-sensing receptor induces relaxations through CGRP and NK1 receptor-mediated pathways in male rat mesenteric arteries
Carlton-Carew, S. R. E., Greenberg, H. Z. E., Greenwood, I. A. & Albert, A. P., Jun 2024, In: Physiological Reports. 12, 12, e16125.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)
Prizes
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Education Excellence Award
Albert, Anthony (Recipient), 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Excellence in Education Award
Albert, Anthony (Recipient), 2024
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Excellence in Education Award
Albert, Anthony (Recipient), 2018
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)