BELS Brief Chats Episode #10 – Dr Calum Macrae

Born into a medical family on the Isle of Skye, Dr Calum Macrae’s path to Edinburgh University and London to study medicine and become a leading cardiologist, geneticist and developmental biologist is not a great surprise.  His drive to “follow the science” took him to Boston where he trained with seminal thought leaders in human genetics and gained world-class clinical training in internal medicine and cardiology.  Calum’s interests—in genomics, disease modeling, developmental biology, drug discovery and systematic approaches to discovering new phenotypes—are overarched by a fascination with the role that disruptive innovation can have in refashioning the clinical-translational interface.  In late 2016, Calum and his team won the landmark One Brave Idea research award, focused on uncovering the causes of heart disease.  Equally at home in the open spaces (as one would expect from a child of Skye) as he is with the attractions of living in great cities, Calum is increasingly involved with the UK and foresees spending more time there going forward.