Professor Martin Tobin

Martin is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Leicester and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He leads a programme of research on the genomics of common, complex diseases and traits, including lung health, COPD, and multimorbidity.

He has established, led and co-led research consortia, including UK BiLEVE, the first genetic study in UK Biobank and the Quantitative Methods, Machine Learning and Functional Genomics Clinical Interpretation Partnership and BREATHE, the HDR UK Digital Innovation Hub for respiratory disease. He continues to lead a successful cohort study, EXCEED, and the international SpiroMeta consortium focused on the genetics of lung function and COPD.

Key interests including early career research training, mentorship, public engagement and supporting genomics-driven precision medicine in non-European ancestries. He is Director of the 4-year PhD Programme in Genomic Epidemiology and Public Health Genomics funded by the Wellcome Trust. Martin has contributed to key funding panels, including Wellcome Trust Panels and the MRC Non-Clinical Careers Panel, and advisory panels, chairing the Governance Committee of the Science Foundation Ireland Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science.

He has published over 200 articles (h-index 80).

Shrine N et al. New genetic signals for lung function highlight pathways and pleiotropy, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associations across multiple ancestries. Nature Genetics 2019 Mar;51(3):481-493.

Sakornsakolpat P et al. Genetic landscape of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease identifies heterogeneous cell type and phenotype associations. Nature Genetics 2019 Mar;51(3):494-505.

Shrine N et al. Moderate-to-severe asthma in individuals of European ancestry: a genome-wide association study. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine 2019, 7(1):20-34.

Hersh CP et al. High-Throughput Sequencing in Respiratory, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine Research. An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report. Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2019, 16(1):1-16.

Evangelou E et al. Genetic analysis of over 1 million people identifies 535 new loci associated with blood pressure traits. Nature Genetics 2018, 50(10):1412-1425.

Jackson VE et al. Meta-analysis of exome array data identifies six novel genetic loci for lung function. Wellcome open research 2018, 3:4. [joint corresponding author]

Ji X et al. Identification of susceptibility pathways for the role of chromosome 15q25.1 in modifying lung cancer risk. Nature Communications 2018, 9(1):3221.

Miller S et al. The vitamin D binding protein axis modifies disease severity in lymphangioleiomyomatosis. The European respiratory journal 2018, 52(5).

Bihlmeyer NA et al. ExomeChip-Wide Analysis of 95 626 Individuals Identifies 10 Novel Loci Associated With QT and JT Intervals. Circ Genom Precis Med. 2018 Jan;11(1):e001758. doi: 10.1161/CIRCGEN.117.001758. PubMed PMID: 29874175.

Adewoye AB et al. Human CCL3L1 copy number variation, gene expression, and the role of the CCL3L1-CCR5 axis in lung function. Wellcome Open  Res. 2018 Feb 21;3:13. PMID: 29682616.