Legacy of a Pioneer: Prof Dame Anna Dominiczak

D mana is a scientifically astute person but most importantly she has a very clear vision of what needs to be done and the impact of that work has really extended beyond Scotland and it's international and she's a truly international figure in her field. She was very visible. She was always at conferences. She published prominently. They thought this must be a really important person if she's everywhere in the world. And yeah, clearly she is. She's shown that regardless of gender or sex, working in medicine and academia is for everyone. — If it wasn't for Professor Dominichek's research, me and my family wouldn't be able to live a healthy life. — My name is Anna Dominichek. I am a regious chair of medicine at the University of Glasgow and chief scientist for health for Scottish government. My parents were doctors and both who were involved in medical science and trying to improve things and I watched this as a child promised myself never to do it and then followed in their type of career. Looking back when I was a medical student, there was an opportunity to engage in research projects in cardiovascular medicine particularly in high blood pressure that has become my topic. This year and a half in United States set me up as a scientist and I came back ready to become a leader. So I met Dame Anna in 1999 when I first came to Glasgow as a clinical research fellow. She was already a towering figure in hypertension genetics in the UK and globally. The first genomide study conducted by the welcome trust case control consortium. They didn't find any signals for blood pressure and that was a major blow to hypertension genetics at that time. Anna decided let's think differently. We were going against the grain. common wisdom across the world. But she said that from Glasgow, let's see if we can actually answer the question properly. So she brought in her knowledge. collaborators from Europe. She got funding from the European Union, funding from the British Art Foundation and let's do the study ourselves. We were a smaller university and we didn't have a big team but she had the conviction that we could correct this and we completed the study in towards the end of 2009. We published in 2010 we discovered a new gene for hypertension. In the 60s, a pora cabin was built temporarily to serve the medical research council blood pressure unit which was one of the most famous blood pressure units in the world. I joined in late 80s and we were still in the sporter cabin at that stage. By the '9s it became impossible and then we had an absolute push and British Heart Foundation came to help. We spent number of years planning this building, working with architects etc. And I realized that once we moved the work has become better. Being in a new modern completely different building made people work harder and things happened quicker and university noticed us more and that gave me the idea that we can do more of this. We understood that we need to work together that this has to be the clinical center of research for University of Glasgow. That's that triple helix collaboration between NHS, academia and industry. — Anna has very strong opinions and she's certainly a very strong leader and examples are certainly at the time when genetic tools came up. This is where Anna was one of the leaders. This translated to human genetics, she was always at the forefront of this. And then when it went to translation into clinical practice with precision medicine, this is always this leadership translating something that she takes from her research into clinical practice. At the same time, she listens to others. And I think that's really unique about her. not particular discoveries where she had plenty but rather to see new opportunities, new directions and be one of the first to

follow these. Anna has always been and still is very approachable. She's on the phone. She's on the text. She always speaks to me. And I know I'm not the only one. She does this with everybody. this kind of personal touch that you really feel that she's looking after our careers even now that our careers are reasonably established is just fantastic. I've been working at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow since around 2008 and during that time I worked with Dame Professor in both clinically in the blood pressure clinic at that time and also an inpatient work when she looked after patients in level eight medical at the Western. I think that her interest in hypertension and cardiovascular disease has always been very evident and that has certainly shaped my interest both clinically and in academic research and secondary as a woman um in academia and a woman in medicine. She has been very inspiring there as well. It's often seemed to be a male-dominated area but having Dana at the head of both the cardiovascular research center and our current roles really is positive for women in medicine. My name is Kirsten. I'm 27 and I have a rare genetic condition called glutcorticoid remediable alisterianism and I've been coming to clinic since I was six. Part of the condition is high blood pressure and really low potassium. So if my blood pressure was left uncontrolled, it could be fail. It's actually passes down the females in my family. My grand had it, my mom's got it, and I've got it. In Germany, they diagnosed us and Professor Dichek took over it from there. I was that board that I used to follow her about doing all our different patients. So, yeah, I would say we were pretty close at that point. She basically mastered it. I was on different medication. Some of it wasn't working. and she was triing it constantly and she finally found the key and I've stayed on that same medication since and we can just live a normal day-to-day life. Everything we fund, we like to think has an impact. But I think the thing that's really unique for Scotland is that impact has moved from the lab, from the concept, from the engineering table into a patient and made a difference to that patient. And I think that is a very powerful legacy and everybody who knows Anna would recognize that. Whether it's a strategic point of view for the University of Glasgow, whether it's strategic point of view across the whole of Scotland in her new role as chief scientists within government, or whether it's developing the strategy within the BHF itself, she's had a very powerful and important impact. D Mana's legacy is proof that with vision, relentless determination, and generosity of spirit, you can transform science, inspire generation, and shape institutions, all the while not taking no for an answer. I hope that we'll continue to work on what she's started, what she's achieved, and take that forward for our patients. I hope that we will work with patients and have them more as partners in our research and our work. And I hope that we'll continue to encourage others into academia and into medicine who may not have previously been on that path. — Anna has shown what is possible to show that she was really able to develop this amazing career despite all obstacles and with bringing people into this building up a team. This is probably the biggest legacy that you will ever have and the thing that affected me most. Thank you for everything, all your research, your time being there, support throughout the years for us and yeah, I really don't know where we'd be without you and keep doing what you're doing cuz you're doing amazing. — Yeah, I think legacy is very big word. It makes me feel extremely old. I think one doesn't really know. It's for others to judge what shapes the field. I see research as little building blocks and each of us might have a chance to do a few small building blocks but it's the whole thing collaboration working together that triple helix always remembering that there is a patient or population at the end of this and I think things have changed enormously over the last 20 years it's almost unrecognizable how things improved for women and minorities too I think we're much more aware things are better and I hope I helped a little bit on the way at the end of the day I am a doctor I'm a physician and I want to serve people patients population in science research working with colleagues that's the motto

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