Meet Dr Chris Stanley, the leader of HRI's Microvascular Research Group. He is deeply passionate about discovery research and is currently investigating the role of inflammation in blood pressure-related disorders, with a focus on understanding low blood pressure seen in septic shock.
Dr Chris Stanley has always had a curious nature and a strong interest in science. Despite this, Chris took a very unconventional route into his scientific career.
Born in Yorkshire in the UK, he left school at 16 to work and play rugby union.
“I always loved science as a child. I was always dismantling stuff around the house - my mum’s vacuum, the video player or kitchen appliances - to see how they worked,” Chris recalls. “But as a teenager, I lost my love for science, and my love for everything really, apart from sport.
“With very average school grades I decided to leave at 16 to get a job. Initially, working on a farm I then ended up managing a leisure centre and becoming a personal trainer.”
It was during this period that Chris rediscovered his passion for science.
"I found myself buying book after book and going deeper and deeper. I went from sports science magazines to complex biochemistry journals, consistently amazed by the body and how it can be manipulated.”
Chris acknowledged he couldn’t be a personal trainer forever and realised he had developed an insatiable thirst for knowledge about the human body.
“It was also around this time that I started dating a girl who lived in Milan and was studying classical civilisations. Our discussions about university career paths inspired me to pursue an academic journey of my own. I thought, ‘I want to spend the rest of my life learning, being an academic,’ and my path was set.”
Initially completing an undergraduate degree in Sports Science at Leeds Metropolitan University (now Leeds Beckett University), Chris did a dissertation about the correlation between squat strength, sprint speed and body mass index (BMI). The project ignited his passion for physiology and muscle biochemistry, and he ended up enrolling in a combined Physiology and Pharmacology degree.
“I fell in love with pharmacology.”
"I went in loving physiology, but as soon as we started talking about pharmacology and how drugs interact with the body, I just absolutely fell in love.”
Chris won multiple awards for his research project, including best dissertation and best lab project, and decided he would then go on to study medicine.
“My course leader actually said to me, ‘Chris, you wouldn't be a good doctor. There are people in this world who can handle lots of different information and distribute it – those are doctors. And then there are the people who just need to dig deep and understand something thoroughly and not in a time-sensitive way – and that’s you.’”
Heeding his lecturer’s advice, Chris completed a PhD at the University of Nottingham. He studied how human arteries contract and relax, with the aim of developing novel therapeutic tools to treat high blood pressure and vascular disorders associated with high cholesterol and diabetes – a mission he is still pursuing today at HRI.
He then successfully secured a postdoc appointment at the University of Oxford with two influential experts in vascular physiology, Prof Kim Dora and Prof Chris Garland. Chris’ project was once again focused on the impacts of disease on the structure and function of arteries.
“Kim and Chris are considered ‘gods’ in my field. Working and studying at Oxford was a great opportunity, the lab was amazing, and the science they do is phenomenal, so when the time came, I was naturally sad to leave the lab," he shares.
"But at the same time, there were far too many London accents kicking around for a lad from Yorkshire,” he laughs.
In 2014 when Chris stumbled upon a job ad to work in Prof Roland Stocker’s lab and the email address ended in ‘ac.au’, he assumed the position would be based in Austria. As he dialled in to the interview, it quickly became clear it was not.
Moving to Australia
Just days later, Chris had packed his bags and moved to the other side of the world, to work at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI) in Sydney, Australia.
“Prof Stocker has a world-class research reputation and I was so inspired by his work using analytical biochemistry to understand cardiovascular disease” Chris says.
The rising star from the UK quickly gained recognition as an emerging research leader and received many accolades, including a Society for Free Radical Research Young Investigator Award and a Sydney Cardiovascular Symposium Rising Star Award. He also published a paper in the esteemed journal Nature that led to him winning the St Vincent’s Clinical School Publication of the Year Award and a NSW Health Grant.
He counts his Nature paper as the highlight of his scientific career to date.
“The Nature paper is definitely my proudest achievement to date. It was a huge team effort with 23 collaborators from 13 institutes across five countries and the culmination of over 10 years of work,” he explains. “I am incredibly proud that we were able to discover a novel mechanism that controls arteries and how this impacts blood pressure.
In 2020, Chris joined HRI to start and lead the Microvascular Research Group.
“My lab aims to understand more about the structure, function and signalling of small diameter arteries. These arteries play a key role in regulating blood pressure,” he explains.
“Abnormally low blood pressure is the leading cause of mortality in septic shock, and abnormally high blood pressure (hypertension) is the biggest risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death globally.
“I would love to make an impact in research, by doing solid reproducible work that advances our understanding of how the body works and has utility to help people and reduce disease."
“I just want to make an impact. I want my work to mean something.”
Chris is an endurance junkie competing in triathlons, marathons, bike races or anything that typically takes multiple hours (left) and recently married another cardiovascular researcher and chief cheer squad member, Stef (right)
And while funding remains an ever-present challenge, Chris has been fortunate to secure many prestigious grants recently, including a 2023 NHMRC Ideas grant, NSW Health state funding and a Ramaciotti Health grant. Again being awarded The Derek Heart Memorial Award for Best Grant Submission in the state.
Outside of the lab, Chris is a dedicated athlete and ironman and recently married another cardiovascular researcher, Stef, who he met while working at VCCRI.
For Chris, understanding the human body and how it performs during sport has always been at the forefront of his mind when competing.
“I am not one of those people who can do something I’m not passionate about,” he explains. “If I do something, I like to take it as far as I possibly can. The body is a fascinating machine its ability to endure, and paradoxically its disease susceptibility is one of life’s great puzzles."
Chris's journey, from a curious child in Yorkshire to a leading researcher, reflects his relentless pursuit of knowledge.
“I’ve always planned as much as I can, but I follow my heart and gut,” he says. “I love working at HRI, where I feel incredibly supported by management and my colleagues.”
He emphasises the importance of collaboration and inspiration from fellow researchers.
“The cardiovascular system is fascinating and the driving force of everything we do,” he says. “It’s a privilege to study this system and build on the work of the great cardiovascular pioneers that have gone before me, including William Harvey and Robert Furchgott.
“To summarise what motivates me, William Harvey put it best, and his quote is written on the wall in my lab as a constant reminder to me and my staff, 'All we know is infinitely less than all that remains unknown’.
