Dr Pankaj Gupta, MD, FRCP, FRCPath

Dr Pankaj Gupta is an Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant in Chemical Pathology in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Leicester. He is a clinician-scientist specialising in medication adherence, hypertension, cardiovascular pharmacotherapy, lipid disorders and clinical mass spectrometry.

He is a pioneer in the development and clinical implementation of chemical adherence testing, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to identify non-adherence to cardiovascular and cardiometabolic medicines objectively. As Co-Director of the National Centre for Adherence Testing, he has helped translate chemical adherence testing from a research method into a routine clinical service.

Dr Gupta holds an MD from the University of Manchester and is a Fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists. He completed specialist training in Chemical Pathology with subspecialty training in Metabolic Medicine. He served as Head of Service for Metabolic Medicine and Chemical Pathology at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust from 2019 to 2025.

Dr Gupta's principal research interest is medication non-adherence in cardiovascular and cardiometabolic disease. His programme combines clinical research, analytical science and implementation to improve the identification and management of non-adherence.

• Objective biochemical methods for detecting medication non-adherence.
• Translation of chemical adherence testing into routine clinical pathways.
• Relationships between non-adherence, blood-pressure control and cardiovascular outcomes.
• Resistant and difficult-to-control hypertension.
• Cardiovascular pharmacotherapy, pharmacokinetics and precision medicine.
• Lipid disorders and secondary cardiovascular prevention.
• Clinical LC-MS/MS, high-resolution mass spectrometry, proteomics and metabolomics.
• Inequalities in medication adherence and access to cardiovascular treatment.

His work has investigated medication adherence in hypertension, heart failure, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, transient ischaemic attack and stroke, pregnancy, HIV, and patients undergoing assessment for renal denervation. His current work includes the development and validation of an ultrafast UHPLC-QTOF-MS platform for rapid detection of non-adherence to antihypertensive treatment.

Funding

Dr Gupta has secured and contributed to research, infrastructure and clinical-translational funding from the Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, University of Leicester and industry partners. Selected awards include:

• Principal Investigator: Development and validation of an ultrafast UHPLC-QTOF-MS method for rapid detection of non-adherence to antihypertensive therapy. Medical Research Council 2026-2028 — £295,819.
• Co-Principal Investigator: A high-resolution mass-spectrometry platform for state-of-the-art precision-health metabolomics. Medical Research Council 2026-2027 — £664,120.
• Co-Principal Investigator: Advanced tandem-quadrupole mass spectrometer with automated sample extraction for a multi-user interdisciplinary translational research facility. Medical Research Council 2022-2023 — £321,969.
• Co-Principal Investigator: Outreach multicentre randomised controlled trial. British Heart Foundation 2016-2022 — £754,472.
• Principal Investigator: Proteomic biomarkers of hypertension using microsampling-based mass spectrometry. University of Leicester Future 100 PhD Studentship 2022-2026 — £140,000.
• Principal Investigator: Research Equipment and Infrastructure Grant. University of Leicester 2018 — £255,000.
• Co-Principal Investigator: Comparison of chemical adherence testing, pharmacy prescription records and self-report in people with type 2 diabetes. Servier 2020-2024 — £83,218.
• Co-Principal Investigator: Integrated multiomics of energy-metabolism remodelling in multimorbidity cardiovascular disease. University of Leicester MRC Impact Accelerator Account/LD3 Fund 2023-2024 — £68,000.

He has also led funded quality-improvement programmes to improve lipid management and access to PCSK9 inhibitors following acute coronary syndrome, transient ischaemic attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease.

Dr Gupta has authored or co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications in medication adherence, hypertension, cardiovascular pharmacotherapy, clinical mass spectrometry, diabetes, kidney disease, heart failure and stroke. His work has appeared in journals including The Lancet, The Lancet Primary Care, Hypertension, European Journal of Heart Failure, Diabetes Care, Diabetologia, Kidney International Reports and the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases.

As of April 2026, he had an h-index of 24 and more than 3,200 citations on Google Scholar.

• Demonstrated the high prevalence of medication non-adherence across cardiometabolic conditions.
• Established the clinical utility of LC-MS/MS-based chemical adherence testing.
• Shown associations between non-adherence, blood-pressure control and clinical outcomes.
• Supported implementation of objective adherence testing in routine clinical care.
• Informed international approaches to apparent treatment-resistant hypertension.

Selected publications

1. Tomaszewski M, White C, Patel P, et al. High rates of non-adherence to antihypertensive treatment revealed by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry urine analysis. Heart. 2014;100:855-861. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2013-305063.
2. Gupta P, Patel P, Strauch B, et al. Biochemical screening for non-adherence is associated with blood-pressure reduction and improvement in adherence. Hypertension. 2017;70. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.117.09631.
3. van Schoonhoven AV, van Asselt ADI, Tomaszewski M, et al. Cost-utility of an objective biochemical measure to improve adherence to antihypertensive treatment. Hypertension. 2018;72:1117-1124. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.118.11227.
4. Patel P, Gupta P, Burns A, et al. Biochemical urine testing of adherence to cardiovascular medications reveals high rates of non-adherence in people attending their annual review for type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2019;42:1132-1135. doi: 10.2337/dc18-1453.
5. Gupta P, Voors AA, Patel P, et al. Non-adherence to heart-failure medications predicts clinical outcomes: assessment in a single spot urine sample by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. European Journal of Heart Failure. 2021;23:1182-1190. doi: 10.1002/ejhf.2160.
6. Lane D, Lawson A, Burns A, et al. Nonadherence in hypertension: how to develop and implement chemical adherence testing. Hypertension. 2022;79:12-23. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.121.17596.
7. Lane D, Beishon L, Sharma V, et al. High non-adherence rates to secondary prevention by chemical adherence testing in patients with transient ischaemic attack. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases. 2022;31:106665. doi: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2022.106665.
8. Osman H, Lane D, Bernieh D, et al. An innovative chemical adherence test demonstrates very high rates of non-adherence to oral cardiometabolic medications. Kidney International Reports. 2023. doi: 10.1016/j.ekir.2023.09.033.
9. Highton PJ, Funnell MP, Gupta P, et al. Chemical adherence testing for assessing adherence to antihypertensive medications: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence of non-adherence. Behavioral Medicine. 2025. doi: 10.1080/08964289.2025.2503201.
10. Tomaszewski M, Gupta P, Chowienczyk P, et al. Chemical adherence testing-guided intervention versus standard care in patients with hypertension who are non-adherent to antihypertensive treatment in the UK. The Lancet Primary Care. 2026;2.

Complete publication record: ORCiD 0000-0001-9481-6067

Dr Gupta contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate medical education at the University of Leicester. He supervises PhD, MSc and BSc students and provides clinical and educational supervision for medical trainees in Chemical Pathology.

His doctoral supervision includes projects in clinical mass spectrometry, medication adherence, cardiovascular disease, proteomics, pharmacokinetics, and the psychological and social determinants of adherence. He also teaches primary-care clinicians, nurses and pharmacists and has supervised trainees undertaking specialist medical and pharmacist independent-prescribing qualifications.

• Co-Director, National Centre for Adherence Testing.
• President, European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy, Lifestyle and Adherence.
• Lead, Medication Adherence Group within the British and Irish Hypertension Society Research Committee.
• Former member, British and Irish Hypertension Society Executive Committee (2022-2026).
• Member, University of Leicester AI Research Ethics Committee.
• Editorial Board member, Journal of Human Hypertension.
• Steering Committee member, East Midlands Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Cascade Screening Implementation Group.
• Faculty member, NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East Midlands.

Dr Gupta has been an invited speaker at meetings of the European Society of Hypertension, British and Irish Hypertension Society, International Society of Hypertension, Heart UK, American Heart Association and Royal College of Physicians. He has also chaired scientific sessions at international cardiovascular meetings.

• National Clinical Impact Award, Level 1 (2023).
• Clinical Excellence Award, Level 1 (2019).
• Runner-up, Health Service Journal Improving the Value of Diagnostic Services Award (2019).
• Best Oral Presentation, International Society of Hypertension Congress (2018).
• Best Poster in Category, European Society of Cardiology Congress (2018).
• The 2014 Heart paper on LC-MS/MS adherence testing was recognised as one of the journal's top three publications of the year.