Local professor is first female in the UK to win prestigious award

Mandy MacLean received the Assembly on Pulmonary Circulation Leadership Award in recognition of “decades of leadership and service” to the pulmonary circulation research community.

The award recognises her extensive contribution to the field of pulmonary vascular research, as well as her “inspiring leadership” of the ATS Pulmonary Circulation Assembly and her commitment to training the next generation of leaders in the field.

Throughout her career, Mandy – who has lived in Milngavie for more than 30 years and has just recently retired – has specialised in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a form of high blood pressure which affects the lungs, and particularly the roles of the chemicals serotonin and oestrogen in its development.

She is only the second person from the UK to receive the award in the last 25 years and the first UK woman in its history. Her presentation was made at the ATS International Meeting in San Diego earlier this year.

Mandy said: “I was delighted that my peers across the globe awarded me this wonderful accolade; it came as unexpected and uplifting news. My activities with the ATS over the years have provided me with inspiration, life-long friends and collaborators.

“Research is a team effort and hence this award is recognition of all the contributions my research teams have made over the years. I would like to thank them and all my collaborators for their support and making it such a rewarding career.

“I would also like to thank the British Heart Foundation for continuous support over the last 30 years, as well as the BBSRC and MRC for research funding.”

Professor MacLean gained a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Edinburgh in 1985 and worked in the USA, Cambridge and the University of Glasgow before joining Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences in 2019, gaining the title of Distinguished Professor in 2020.

In recent years, her research has focused on sex effects and oestrogen metabolism in PAH, which occurs more commonly in women than in men.

She has played a key role in Strathclyde’s public engagement work and has co-hosted monthly events for Café Scientifique in Glasgow. In 2018, she became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and was the Academy’s Scottish Champion in 2018-19, before being elected in 2020 to its Council, where she was EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) Champion and currently Chair of the Mentoring Advisory Group.

The professor is a trustee, and sits on the Board, of the Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity. She is a Fellow and past Vice-President (Life Sciences) of The Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).