Dr Patrick Highton

I am currently completing an NIHR Advanced Research Fellowship, investigating the acceptability of antihypertensive medication non-adherence testing in those with multiple long-term conditions from ethnic minority populations. I also work on a variety of projects relating to chronic disease, multimorbidity, physical activity and health.

1. Hannah ML Young, Joseph Henson, Paddy C Dempsey, Scott Willis, Roseanne Billany, Ffion Curtis, Laura Gray, Sharlene Greenwood, Louisa Y Herring, Patrick Highton, Ryan Kelsey, Selina Lock, Daniel S March, Krishna Patel, Jack Sargeant, Harini Sathanapally, Avan A Sayer, Martha Thomas, Noemi Vadaszy, Emma Watson, Tom Yates, Melanie Davies. Physical activity, exercise and sedentary behaviour interventions for people living with both frailty and multiple long-term conditions: a scoping review. Age and Ageing. 2024. In Press.
2. Ashkon Ardavani, Ffion Curtis, Ellen Hopwood, Patrick Highton, Priscilla Katapa, Kamlesh Khunti, Thomas J Wilkinson. Effect of pharmacist interventions in chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. 2024. In Press.
3. Patrick Highton, Shavez Jeffers, Ayesha Butt, Lauren O’Mahoney, Sian Jenkins, Ruksar Abdala, Louise Haddon, Clare Gillies, Ffion Curtis, Michelle Hadjiconstantinou, Kamlesh Khunti. Patient-reported outcomes in diabetes-related foot conditions: is patient experience influenced by ethnicity? A mixed-methods systematic review. Diabetic Medicine. 2024. e15420.
4. Katherine L Hull, Lucy Abell, Sherna F Adenwalla, Roseanne E Billany, Stephanie Burns, James O Burton, Darren Churchward, Matthew P M Graham-Brown, Laura J Gray, Patrick Highton, Courtney J Lightfoot, Rahma Said, Alice C Smith, Hannah M L Young, Daniel S March. Impact of physical activity on surrogate markers of cardiovascular disease in the haemodialysis population. Clinical Kidney Journal. 2024. sfae198, https://doi.org/10.1093/ckj/sfae198
5. Patrick Highton, Kamlesh Khunti. Letter by Highton, Khunti Regarding Article: “Pragmatic Trial of Messaging to Providers About Treatment of Hyperlipidemia (PROMPT-LIPID): A Randomized Clinical Trial”. Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. 2024. e011189.
6. Anna Hodgson, Clare L Gillies, Patrick Highton, Louise Haddon, Safoora Gharibzadeh, Francesco Zaccardi, Kamlesh Khunti. Risk of lower extremity amputation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and peripheral arterial disease receiving SGLT2 inhibitors versus other medications: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational cohort studies. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.15571.
7. Patrick Highton, Abdullah Almaqhawi, Maroria Oroko, Harini Sathanapally, Laura Gray, Melanie Davies, David Webb, Frances Game, John Petrie, Solomon Tesfaye, Jonathan Valabhji, Clare Gillies, Kamlesh Khunti. Non-pharmacological interventions to improve cardiovascular risk factors in people with diabetic foot disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. 2024. 111590.
8. Jamie Hartmann-Boyce*, Patrick Highton*, Karen Rees, Igho Onakpoya, Jana Suklan, Ffion Curtis, Lauren O'Mahoney, Elizabeth Morris, Laura Kudlek, Jessica Morgan, Rosie Lynch, Sanjana Marpadga, Samuel Seidu, Kamlesh Khunti. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated disruptions in health-care provision on clinical outcomes in people with diabetes: a systematic review. Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. Volume 12, Issue 2, February 2024, Pages 132-148.
9. Ashkon Ardavani, Ffion Curtis, Patrick Highton, Kamlesh Khunti, Thomas Wilkinson. Development of a core outcome set for pharmacist interventions in chronic kidney disease (COSP-KD): a protocol for e-Delphi consensus study. Journal of Kidney Care. 9.4 (2024): 163-170.
10. Lauren O’Mahoney, Patrick Highton, Ruksar Abdala, Helen Dallosso, Clare L Gillies, Seema Ragha, Fiona Munday, John Robinson, Andrew Marshall, James P Sheppard, Kamlesh Khunti, Samuel Seidu. Deintensification of potentially inappropriate medications amongst older frail people with type 2 diabetes: Protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial (D-MED study). Primary Care Diabetes (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcd.2023.12.001
11. Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, Karen Rees, Igho Onakpoya, Afolarin Otunia, Elizabeth Morris, Jessica Morgan, Patrick Highton, Jana Suklan, Ffion Curtis, Clare Goyder, Lauren O’Mahoney, Olivia James, Nayanika Sreejith, Samuel Seidu, Kamlesh Khunti. An update to the overview of reviews: Risks of and from SARS-COV-2 infection and COVID-19 in people with diabetes. Diabetes Care. (2023): dc231365.
12. Kamlesh Khunti, Nithya Sukumar, Ghazala Waheed, Clare Gillies, Helen Dallosso, Chris Brough, Melanie J Davies, Claire Fitzpatrick, Laura J Gray, Patrick Highton, Alex Rowlands, Sally Schreder, Tom Yates, Ponnusamy Saravanan. Structured group education programme and accompanying mHealth intervention to promote physical activity in women with a history of gestational diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. Diabetic Medicine 2023. e15118.
13. Patrick J. Highton, Shabana Cassambai, Neusa Jessen, George N.- Agot, Michelle Hadjiconstantinou, Melanie Davies, Samuel Seidu, Peter K. Njoroge, Joyce Muhenge Olenja, Pamela Godia, Albertino Damasceno, Roberta Lamptey, Kamlesh Khunti. Cardiometabolic disease and multiple long-term condition healthcare provision in Sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunities for new models of care in the post-COVID era. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews. Volume 17, Issue 1, January 2023, 102681.
14. Almaqhawi A, Highton P, Narasimhan M, Davies MJ, Khunti K, Seidu. Evaluation of Quality of Diabetic Foot Examination on YouTube. Diabetic Medicine. 40.1 (2023): e14936.
15. Tom Wilkinson, Lauren O'Mahoney, Patrick Highton, Joao Viana, Heitor Riberio, Courtney Lightfoot, Ffion Curtis, Kamlesh Khunti. Physical activity and the ‘pediatric inactivity triad’ in children living with chronic kidney disease: a narrative review. Therapeutic Advances in Chronic Disease. 2022. 13: 20406223221109972
16. Lauren L O’Mahoney, Patrick J Highton, Laura Kudlek, Jessica Morgan, Rosie Lynch, Ella Schofield, Nayanika Sreejith, Ajay Kapur, Afolarin Otunla, Sven Kerneis, Olivia James, Karen Rees, Ffion Curtis, Kamlesh Khunti, Jamie Hartmann-Boyce. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on glycaemic control in people with diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 24.9 (2022): 1850-1860.
17. Nathan P Dawkins, Tom Yates, Charlotte L Edwardson, Ben Maylor, Joseph Henson, Andrew P Hall, Melanie J Davies, David W Dunstan, Patrick J Highton, Louisa Y Herring, Kamlesh Khunti, Alex V Rowlands. Importance of overall activity and intensity of activity for cardiometabolic risk in those with and without a chronic disease. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 54.9 (2022): 1582-1590.
18. Hannah ML Young, Thomas Yates, Paddy C Dempsey, Louisa Y Herring, Joseph Henson, Jack Sargeant, Ffion Curtis, Harini Sathanapally, Patrick Highton, Michelle Hadjiconstantinou, Rebecca Pritchard, Selina Lock, Sally J Singh, Melanie Davies. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour interventions for people living with both frailty and multiple long-term conditions: a scoping review protocol. BMJ Open 12.5 (2022): e061104
19. Patrick J. Highton, Daniel S. March, Darren R. Churchward, Charlotte E. Grantham, Hannah M.L. Young, Matthew P.M. Graham-Brown, Seila Estruel, Naomi Martin, Nigel J. Brunskill, Alice C. Smith, James O. Burton, Nicolette C. Bishop. Intradialytic cycling does not exacerbate microparticles or circulating markers of systemic inflammation in haemodialysis patients. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-021-04846-7.
20. Kamlesh Khunti, Patrick J. Highton, Ghazala Waheed, Helen Dallosso, Emma Redman, Mark E. Batt, Melanie J. Davies, Laura J. Gray, Louisa Y. Herring, Hamidreza Mani, Alex Rowlands, Tom Yates. Promoting physical activity through group self-management support for those with multimorbidity: a randomised controlled trial. British Journal of General Practice. 2021. 2021; BJGP.2021.0172. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0172.
21. Daniel S March, Ka-Bik Lai, Tracy Neal, Matthew P M Graham-Brown, Patrick J Highton, Darren R Churchward, Hannah M L Young, Maurice Dungey, David J Stensel, Alice C Smith, Nicolette C Bishop, Cheuk Chun Szeto, James O Burton. Circulating endotoxin and inflammation: associations with fitness, physical activity and the effect of a six-month programme of cycling exercise during haemodialysis. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfab178
22. Yan Song, Daniel S. March, Annabel Biruete, Brandon M. Kistler, Daniel D. G. Nixon, Patrick J. Highton, Barbara P. Vogt, Nicola Ruddock, Kenneth R. Wilund, Alice C. Smith, PhD, James O. Burton. A Comparison of Dietary Intake Between Individuals Undergoing Maintenance Hemodialysis in the United Kingdom and China. Journal of Renal Nutrition. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.jrn.2021.03.003
23. Daniel S. March, Adam W. Hurt, Charlotte E. Grantham, Darren R. Churchward, Hannah M.L. Young, Patrick J. Highton, Maurice Dungey, Nicolette C. Bishop, Alice C. Smith, Matthew P.M. Graham-Brown, Nicola J. Cooper, James O. Burton. A cost-effective analysis of the CYCLE-HD randomized controlled trial. Kidney International Reports. 2021. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ekir.2021.02.036
24. Matthew P.M. Graham-Brown, Daniel S. March, Robin Young, Patrick J. Highton, Hannah M.L. Young, Darren R. Churchward, Maurice Dungey, David J. Stensel, Nicolette C. Bishop, Nigel J. Brunskill, Alice C. Smith, Gerry P. McCann, Alex McConnachie, James O. Burton. Matthew P.M. Graham-Brown. A randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of intradialytic cycling on left ventricular mass. Kidney International. 2021. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2021.02.027.
25. Louisa Y Herring, Helen Dallosso, Sally Schreder, Emily J Smith, Ghazala Waheed, Laura J Gray, Kamlesh Khunti, Tom Yates, Patrick J Highton, Alex V Rowlands, Ian Hudson, Samuel Seidu, Melanie J Davies. Physical activity after cardiac events (PACES) – a group education programme with subsequent text message support designed to increase physical activity in individuals with diagnosed coronary heart disease: a randomised controlled trial. Open Heart Journal. 2021: e001351.
26. Patrick J Highton, Amit Mistri, Andre Ng, Karen Glover, Kamlesh Khunti, Samuel Seidu. Evaluating the Use of a Mobile Device for Detection of Atrial Fibrillation in Primary Care. British Journal of Cardiology. 2021. doi:10.5837/bjc.2021.005
27. Sherna F. Adenwalla, Roseanne E. Billany, Daniel S. March, Gaurav S. Gulsin, Hannah M. L. Young, Patrick Highton, Darren C. Churchward, Robin Young, Alysha Careless, Clare L. Tomlinson, Gerry P. McCann, James O. Burton & Matthew P. M. Graham-Brown. The cardiovascular determinants of physical function in patients with end-stage kidney disease on haemodialysis. The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-020-02112-z
28. Patrick J. Highton, Michelle Hadjiconstantinou, Sally Schreder, Sam Seidu, Melanie Davies, Kamlesh Khunti. COVID-19, Ethnicity and Cardiometabolic Disease Self-Management in UK Primary Care. Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews 2020: 14(6): 2241–2243.
29. Young HML, March DS, Highton P, Graham-Brown MPM, Churchward DC, Grantham C, Goodliffe S, Will Jones, Mei-Mei Chung, Greenwood SA, Eborall H, Conroy S, Singh SJS, Smith AC, Burton JO. Exercise for people living with frailty and receiving haemodialysis: a mixed-methods randomised controlled feasibility study. BMJ Open 2020;10:e041227. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041227
30. Nathan P. Dawkins, Tom Yates, Charlotte L. Edwardson, Ben Maylor, Melanie J. Davies, David Dunstan, Patrick J. Highton, Louisa Y. Herring, Kamlesh Khunti & Alex V. Rowlands. Comparing 24 h physical activity profiles: Office workers, women with a history of gestational diabetes and people with chronic disease condition(s). Journal of Sport Sciences 2020: 1-8. DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2020.1812202
31. Patrick J. Highton, Alice E.M. White, Daniel G.D. Nixon, Thomas J. Wilkinson, Jill Neale, Naomi Martin, Nicolette C. Bishop, Alice C. Smith. The influence of acute moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise on markers of immune function and microparticles in renal transplant recipients. The American Journal of Physiology – Renal Physiology 2019; 318: F76-F85.
32. Patrick J. Highton, Fernanda R. Goltz, Naomi Martin, David J. Stensel, Alice E. Thackray, Nicolette C. Bishop. Microparticle Responses to Aerobic Exercise and Meal Consumption in Healthy Men. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 2019; 51(9): 1935-1943.
33. Patrick J. Highton, Naomi Martin, Alice C. Smith, James O. Burton, Nicolette C. Bishop. Microparticles and Exercise in Clinical Populations. Exercise Immunology Review 2018; 24: 46-58.
34. Young HML, March DS, Graham-Brown MPM, Jones AW, Curtis F, Grantham CS, Churchward DR, Highton P, Smith AC, Singh SJ, Bridle C, Burton JO. Effects of intradialytic cycling exercise on exercise capacity, quality of life, physical function and cardiovascular measures in adult haemodialysis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nephrology Dialysis Transplant 2018, 1-10.
35. Highton PJ, Neale J, Wilkinson TJ, Bishop NC, Smith AC. Physical Activity, Immune Function and Inflammation in Kidney Patients (the PINK Study): A Feasibility Study Protocol. BMJ Open 2017;7: e014713.
36. H.M.L. Young, D. March, D. Churchward, C. Grantham, P. Highton, M.P.M. Graham-Brown, S.J. Singh, A.C. Smith, J.O. Burton. Practice tests are required for physical function testing in a haemodialysis patients. Physiotherapy 2016; 102: e261.

I currently supervise the following PhD students:

Priscilla Katapa (collaborating supervisor), 2021 - Present. Barriers to insulin initiation in ethnic minority populations with diabetes. 

Ashkon Ardavani (co-supervisor), 2021 - Present. Risk factor prevention for developing CKD in multi-ethnic groups living with multimorbidity.

Kassam Hassam (primary supervisor), 2024 - Present. Inequalities in medication adherence in  those with hypertension.

Abhinav Sinha (primary supervisor). 2025 - Present. Co-designing and feasibility testing of a primary care based multimodal intervention to improve health outcomes among frail older adults with multimorbidity.

Pranil Man Singh Pradhan (primary supervisor), 2024 - Present. Effectiveness of mobile phone-based text messaging service on cessation of tobacco use (Txt2End) among patients with multiple long-term conditions.

External grant reviewer for the NIHR (RfPB, PGfAR, HSDR) and other funders (Great Foundation, ABCD Diabetes Care). I also regularly conduct peer review for various journal submissions.

Grants and Funding

1. Outcome measures for multiple long-term conditions research across settings: An umbrella review. Lauren O’Mahoney, Kamlesh Khunti, Clare Gillies, Yogini Chudasama, Ash Routen, Patrick Highton, Harini Sathanapally. £28,606.96. NIHR ARC East Midlands. 2025-2026.
2. Investigating the acceptability of antihypertensive medication non-adherence testing in those with multiple long-term conditions from ethnic minority populations. Patrick Highton. £759,492. NIHR Advanced Fellowship. 2024-2028.
3. The influence of ethnicity on patient reported outcome measures in people with diabetic foot ulcer disease: A systematic review. Patrick Highton (Lead applicant), John Barraclough, Michelle Hadjiconstantinou, Francesco Zaccardi, Clare Gillies, Ffion Curtis, Frances Game, Jonathan Valabhji, Kamlesh Khunti. £39,258. NIHR ARC-EM. 2022-2023.
4. Cardiometabolic multimorbidity – cultural and contextual issues in Nairobi. Patrick Highton. £1,854. Erasmus+ Exchange Programme, University of Leicester. June 2022.
5. Audit Based Education – bitesize, focused, dashboard-based feedback, to implement NICE Do-Not-Do Recommendations in people with cardiometabolic comorbidities. Simon de Lusignan, Michael Feher, William Hinton, Filipa Matos Ferreira Hinton, Christian Heiss, Martin Whyte, Samuel Seidu, Winifred Ekezie, Patrick Highton, Richard Hobbs. £96,000. NIHR ARC-EM Multimorbidity Groups. 2021-2023.
6. Developing and Evaluating a Multifactorial Intervention to Improve Cardiovascular Outcomes in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes and Current or Previous Diabetic Foot Ulcers (MiFoot). Kamlesh Khunti, John Barraclough, Alan Brennan, Melanie Davies, Frances Game, Clare Gillies, Laura Gray, Edward Gregg, Michelle Hadjiconstantinou, Patrick Highton, John Petrie, Solomon Tesfaye, Jonathan Valabhji, David Webb, Francesco Zaccardi. £2,187,052. NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research. 01/10/2021 – 31/12/2026.
7. NIHR Global Health Research Group on collaborative care for cardiometabolic disease in Africa (CREATE). Kamlesh Khunti, Roberta Lamptey, Richard Ayah, Melanie Davies, Deirdre Harrington, Patrick Highton, Sam Seidu, Albertino Damasceno, Clare Gillies, Ana Magaia, Mary Amoakoh-Coleman, Sairabanu Sokwalla, Alfred Yawson, Carolyn Tarrant, Michelle Hadjiconstantinou, Ana Mocumbi, Pamela Godia, Dorcas Boateng, Emer Brady, Andrew Willis, Nana Kobbah. £2,224,638.29. NIHR Global Health Research – Groups. 01/09/2021 – 31/08/2024.
8. NIHR Global Health Research Centre for Multiple Long-Term Conditions (collaborator). £9,657,158. NIHR Global Health Research – Centres. 01/09/2022 – 31/08/2027
9. Establishing multi-stakeholder partnerships to implement community screening for cardiometabolic multimorbidity in India. Kamlesh Khunti, Natalie Darko, Patrick Highton, Ash Routen, Andrew Willis. £10,000. University of Leicester, Global Challenges Research Fund, International Research Development Fund. 2020.
10. Text messaging and clinician education for improving statin adherence in primary care: a pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial. Kamlesh Khunti (PI), Patrick Highton, Pankaj Gupta, Helen Dallosso, Claire Gillies, Alzim Abdool. £168,597. NIHR ARC East Midlands. 04/2021 – 03/2024.

PhD Exercise Immunology in End Stage Renal Disease

MSc Exercise Physiology

BSc Sports and Exercise Science