A. Mark Richards Explained

Mark Richards
Birth Name:	Arthur Mark Richards
Birth Date:	1 May 1955
Birth Place:	Invercargill, New Zealand
Awards:	Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand Distinguished Research Medal, University of Otago Sir Charles Hercus Medal for Biomedical Research, RSNZ Singapore Translational Research (STaR) Award
Alma Mater:	University of Otago
Workplaces:	University of Otago, Christchurch National University of Singapore

Arthur Mark Richards (born 1 May 1955) is a New Zealand physician, academic and medical researcher. He is a professor of cardiology and director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the National University of Singapore,^[1] and a professor of medicine and founder of the Christchurch Heart Institute at the University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand, where he holds the National Heart Foundation (NZ) Chair of Cardiovascular Studies.^[2]

Richards has written over 850 peer-reviewed journal articles,^[3] and has over 25 patents in the field of cardiovascular biomarkers.^[4] His research revolves around integrated cardiovascular translational research incorporating clinical applied research, molecular biology, cardiovascular peptide biochemistry, genetics and preclinical physiology, with a particular focus upon discovery and application of biomarkers in cardiovascular disease.^[2]

Richards is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College Physicians (FRACP), Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) and Royal Society of New Zealand (FRSNZ), and the Council for High Blood Pressure Research, American Heart Association.^[5]

Education

Richards completed his MB ChB at the University of Otago in 1978. He was admitted as FRACP in Internal Medicine by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1984. He graduated Doctor of Medicine (MD) with distinction in 1986, PhD in medicine in 1993 and Doctor of Science (DSc), with a thesis titled The cardiac natriuretic peptides – from bench to bedside, in 2000 from the University of Otago. The Royal College of Physicians admitted him as FRCP in 2008. In 2019, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Massey University, New Zealand.^[2]

Career

Richards was appointed as a clinical lecturer at Christchurch School of Medicine, University of Otago, in 1988, where he became a professor in medicine in 1995. Since 2009, he has been professor of cardiology at the National University of Singapore, and a professor (joint faculty) in the Department of Biochemistry at National University Singapore as of 2010,^[6] and has also been an associate faculty member at the Genome Institute of Singapore since then.^[7]

Richards was awarded a personal chair in medicine by the University of Otago in 1995. He was deputy head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, in 1998, and head of department from 2002 to 2003. From 1993 to 1997, he directed the FRACP Part 1 Registrar Training Programme (Christchurch) and was an examiner for FRACP clinical examinations. He was admitted to the fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in 2008.

Richards was programme director of the New Zealand Health Research Council (HRC) programme grants for serial cardiovascular HRC research programmes continuously for 24 years from 1995 to 2019. In 1997, he was appointed to the National Heart Foundation chair of cardiovascular studies.^[8] He founded and assumed chairmanship of the Christchurch Cardioendocrine Research Group, University of Otago, Christchurch, which later became the Christchurch Heart Institute in 2012.^[2]

In 2009, Richards became the inaugural director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the National University of Singapore whilst continuing part-time retention of his New Zealand appointments. He has been deputy director of the National University Heart Centre Singapore (NUHCS) since 2021.^[2]

Research

Richards’ main research interests centre around multi-disciplinary translational cardiovascular biomedical research programmes focused on the pathogenesis of common, lethal cardiovascular disorders including heart failure and coronary heart disease.

Biomarkers in cardiovascular disease

A key contribution has been the elucidation of the biology of the cardiac natriuretic peptides and the pioneering of their application as diagnostic, prognostic and monitoring tools in clinical heart failure. Work on the B type cardiac natriuretic peptides included the discovery and development of NT-proBNP.^[9] All authoritative international guidelines on the diagnosis and management of heart failure globally now recommend measurement of plasma B type cardiac natriuretic peptides in aid of diagnosis and risk stratification in heart failure.^[10]

Richards leads ongoing research aimed at refining the clinical applications and beneficial actions of the natriuretic peptides. He has investigated the effect of atrial fibrillation on the diagnostic and prognostic performance of NT-proBNP in suspected heart failure. In the mid-1990s, Richards pioneered human clinical studies of neprilysin inhibition, important in metabolism of the NPs. His group has studied the integrated haemodynamic, endocrine and renal effects of human ANP analogues selected for exclusive vasodilatory or diuretic activities in experimental heart failure laying the path for possible precision peptide therapy in heart failure.^[11] His group has demonstrated the beneficial integrated hemodynamic, endocrine, and renal effects of phosphodiesterase-9 inhibition (PDE9-I; which specifically impedes breakdown of the 2nd messenger, cGMP generated by the natriuretic peptides) in experimental HF. Results support PDE9's role in HF pathophysiology and implies that its inhibition could possibly be a novel anti-heart failure therapy.^[12]

Richards has contributed to clinical research work establishing measurement of plasma cardiac troponin as an essential element in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. He has also made numerous original contributions on the biology and biomarker potential of the urocortins and the adrenomedullins. Richards has also published influential data on the potential role of circulating microRNAs as biomarkers in heart failure.^[13]

General applied cardiology

In more general applied cardiology research, Richards recently compared the safety and efficacy of allied health care practitioner-led remote intensive management (RIM) with cardiologist-led standard care (SC) after myocardial infarction and found the former practice used with low-risk patients is feasible and should be further studied in higher-risk acute myocardial infarction cohorts.^[14] He has also used large-scale human plasma proteomics and single-cell resolution unbiased cardiac transcriptomics to prioritize candidate protein candidate markers of post-myocardial infarction adverse left ventricular remodeling heart failure.^{[15] [16]} He has contributed to recruitment and investigation of clinical heart failure cohorts in both New Zealand and Singapore. Examples include research on optimal drug doses for heart failure medications.^[17] At a population level, he has contributed data towards large-scale whole-genome sequencing in Singapore with discovery of 52 million novel gene variants and improved understanding of the population structure and evolutionary history of Asians.^[18]

Awards and honours

• 1995 – R. T. Hall Prize for Cardiovascular Research, The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand
• 2001 – Fellow, Royal Society of New Zealand^[5]
• 2006 – Gold medal for Research Excellence, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences
• 2008 – Distinguished Research Medal, University of Otago
• 2008 – Sir Charles Hercus Medal for Biomedical Research (Royal Society of New Zealand)
• 2014 – Singapore Translational Research (STaR) Award, National Medical Research Council
• 2015 – Faculty Research Excellence Award, National University of Singapore
• 2020 – Christchurch Heart Institute recognised with Research Group Award as top University of Otago research centre for 2020^[19]
• 2021 – Inaugural Life Time Achievement in Research Award, Canterbury Medical Research Foundation^[20]

Selected publications

• Davis, M., Espiner, E. A., Yandle, T., Richards, G., Town, I., Neill, A., ... & Billings, J. (1994). Plasma brain natriuretic peptide in assessment of acute dyspnoea. The Lancet, 343(8895), 440–444.
• Richards, A. M., Nicholls, M. G., Yandle, T. G., Frampton, C., Espiner, E. A., Turner, J. G., ... & Smyth, D. W. (1998). Plasma N-terminal pro–brain natriuretic peptide and adrenomedullin: new neurohormonal predictors of left ventricular function and prognosis after myocardial infarction. Circulation, 97(19), 1921–1929.
• Troughton, R. W., Frampton, C. M., Yandle, T. G., Espine, E. A., Nicholls, M. G., & Richards, A. M. (2000). Treatment of heart failure guided by plasma aminoterminal brain natriuretic peptide (N-BNP) concentrations. The Lancet, 355(9210), 1126–1130.
• Richards, A. M., Nicholls, M. G., Espiner, E. A., Lainchbury, J. G., Troughton, R. W., Elliott, J., ... & Yandle, T. G. (2003). B-type natriuretic peptides and ejection fraction for prognosis after myocardial infarction. Circulation, 107(22), 2786–2792.
• Januzzi, J. L., van Kimmenade, R., Lainchbury, J., Bayes-Genis, A., Ordonez-Llanos, J., Santalo-Bel, M., ... & Richards, M. (2006). NT-proBNP testing for diagnosis and short-term prognosis in acute destabilized heart failure: an international pooled analysis of 1256 patients: the International Collaborative of NT-proBNP Study. European heart journal, 27(3), 330–337.
• Hildebrandt, P., Collinson, P. O., Doughty, R. N., Fuat, A., Gaze, D. C., Gustafsson, F., ... & Richards, M. (2010). Age-dependent values of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide are superior to a single cut-point for ruling out suspected systolic dysfunction in primary care. European heart journal, 31(15), 1881–1889.
• Than, M., Cullen, L., Reid, C. M., Lim, S. H., Aldous, S., Ardagh, M. W., ... & Richards, A. M. (2011). A 2-h diagnostic protocol to assess patients with chest pain symptoms in the Asia-Pacific region (ASPECT): a prospective observational validation study. The Lancet, 377(9771), 1077–1084.
• Lam, C. S., Teng, T. H. K., Tay, W. T., Anand, I., Zhang, S., Shimizu, W., ... & Richards, A. M. (2016). Regional and ethnic differences among patients with heart failure in Asia: the Asian sudden cardiac death in heart failure registry. European heart journal, 37(41), 3141–3153.
• Lam, C. S., Gamble, G. D., Ling, L. H., Sim, D., Leong, K. T. G., Yeo, P. S. D., ... & Doughty, R. N. (2018). Mortality associated with heart failure with preserved vs. reduced ejection fraction in a prospective international multi-ethnic cohort study. European heart journal, 39(20), 1770–1780.
• Chan, M. Y., Efthymios, M., Tan, S. H., Pickering, J. W., Troughton, R., Pemberton, C., ... & Richards, A. M. (2020). Prioritizing candidates of post–myocardial infarction heart failure using plasma proteomics and single-cell transcriptomics. Circulation, 142(15), 1408–1421.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Director's Message.
2. Web site: Professor A. Mark Richards. Christchurch. University of Otago. www.otago.ac.nz. 12 November 2019 .
3. Web site: A Mark Richards. scholar.google.com.sg.
4. Web site: Arthur Mark Richards Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search. patents.justia.com.
5. Web site: View our current Fellows.
6. Web site: Arthur M. RICHARDS – National University of Singapore Profile.
7. Web site: Associate Faculty. 13. Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS).
8. Web site: Who & where | Upstream Medical Technologies. www.upstreamdx.com.
9. Web site: Christchurch Heart Institute, University of Otago, Christchurch. Division of Health. Sciences. www.otago.ac.nz. 18 December 2020 .
10. MicroRNA and Heart Failure. Lee Lee. Wong. Juan. Wang. Oi Wah. Liew. Arthur Mark. Richards. Yei-Tsung. Chen. 6 April 2016. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 17. 4. 502. 10.3390/ijms17040502. 27058529. 4848958. free.
11. Web site: Natriuretic peptide analogues with distinct vasodilatory or renal activity: integrated effects in health and experimental heart failure.
12. Hemodynamic, Hormonal, and Renal Actions of Phosphodiesterase-9 Inhibition in Experimental Heart Failure. Nicola J. A.. Scott. Miriam T.. Rademaker. Christopher J.. Charles. Eric A.. Espiner. A. Mark. Richards. 20 August 2019. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 74. 7. 889–901. 10.1016/j.jacc.2019.05.067. 31416533. 201019318. free.
13. microRNA-221 Inhibits Latent TGF-β1 Activation through Targeting Thrombospondin-1 to Attenuate Kidney Failure-Induced Cardiac Fibrosis. Yue. Zhou. Denise Yu En. Ng. Arthur Mark. Richards. Peipei. Wang. 4 December 2020. Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids. 22. 803–814. 10.1016/j.omtn.2020.09.041. 33230477. 7645417.
14. Remote Postdischarge Treatment of Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction by Allied Health Care Practitioners vs Standard Care. Mark Y.. Chan. Karen W. L.. Koh. Sock-Cheng. Poh. Stephanie. Marchesseau. Devinder. Singh. Yiying. Han. Faclin. Ng. Eleanor. Lim. Joseph F.. Prabath. Chi-Hang. Lee. Hui-Wen. Sim. Ruth. Chen. Leonardo. Carvalho. Sock-Hwee. Tan. Joshua P. Y.. Loh. Jack W. C.. Tan. Karishma. Kuwelker. R. M.. Amanullah. Chee-Tang. Chin. James W. L.. Yip. Choy-Yee. Lee. Juvena. Gan. Chew-Yong. Lo. Hee-Hwa. Ho. Derek J.. Hausenloy. Bee-Choo. Tai. A. Mark. Richards. 1 July 2021. JAMA Cardiology. 6. 7. 830–835. 10.1001/jamacardio.2020.6721. 33377898. 7774042.
15. Prioritizing Candidates of Post–Myocardial Infarction Heart Failure Using Plasma Proteomics and Single-Cell Transcriptomics. Mark Y.. Chan. Motakis. Efthymios. Sock Hwee. Tan. John W.. Pickering. Richard. Troughton. Christopher. Pemberton. Hee-Hwa. Ho. Joseph-Francis. Prabath. Chester L.. Drum. Lieng Hsi. Ling. Wern-Miin. Soo. Siang-Chew. Chai. Alan. Fong. Yen-Yee. Oon. Joshua P.. Loh. Chi-Hang. Lee. Roger S.Y.. Foo. Matthew Andrew. Ackers-Johnson. Anna. Pilbrow. A. Mark. Richards. 13 October 2020. Circulation. 142. 15. 1408–1421. 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.045158. 32885678. 7547904.
16. Mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin outperforms N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide for the diagnosis of acute heart failure in the presence of atrial fibrillation. Win Sen. Kuan. Irwani. Ibrahim. Siew Pang. Chan. Zisheng. Li. Oi Wah. Liew. Chris. Frampton. Richard. Troughton. Chris J.. Pemberton. Jenny Pek Ching. Chong. Li Ling. Tan. Weiqin. Lin. Shirley Beng Suat. Ooi. A. Mark. Richards. 7 February 2020. European Journal of Heart Failure. 22. 4. 692–700. 10.1002/ejhf.1660. 31808279. 208742995. free.
17. Identifying optimal doses of heart failure medications in men compared with women: a prospective, observational, cohort study. Bernadet T. Santema. Wouter. Ouwerkerk. Jasper. Tromp. Iziah E. Sama. Alice. Ravera. Vera. Regitz-Zagrosek. Hans. Hillege. Nilesh J. Samani. Faiez. Zannad. Kenneth. Dickstein. Chim C. Lang. John G. Cleland. Jozine M. Ter Maaten. Marco. Metra. Stefan D. Anker. Pim. van der Harst. Leong L. Ng. Peter. van der Meer. Dirk J. van Veldhuisen. Sven. Meyer. Carolyn S P. Lam. Arthur Mark. Richards. Carolyn S. P.. Lam. Inder. Anand. Chung-Lieh. Hung. Lieng Hsi. Ling. Houng Bang. Liew. Calambur. Narasimhan. Tachapong. Ngarmukos. Sang Weon. Park. Eugenio. Reyes. Bambang Budi. Siswanto. Wataru. Shimizu. Shu. Zhang. Adriaan A. Voors. 5 October 2019. The Lancet. 394. 10205. 1254–1263. ScienceDirect. 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31792-1. 31447116. 201413833.
18. Large-Scale Whole-Genome Sequencing of Three Diverse Asian Populations in Singapore. Degang. Wu. Jinzhuang. Dou. Xiaoran. Chai. Claire. Bellis. Andreas. Wilm. Chih Chuan. Shih. Wendy Wei Jia. Soon. Nicolas. Bertin. Clarabelle Bitong. Lin. Chiea Chuen. Khor. Michael. DeGiorgio. Shanshan. Cheng. Li. Bao. Neerja. Karnani. William Ying Khee. Hwang. Sonia. Davila. Patrick. Tan. Asim. Shabbir. Angela. Moh. Eng-King. Tan. Jia Nee. Foo. Liuh Ling. Goh. Khai Pang. Leong. Roger S. Y.. Foo. Carolyn Su Ping. Lam. Arthur Mark. Richards. Ching-Yu. Cheng. Tin. Aung. Tien Yin. Wong. Huck Hui. Ng. Matthew Andrew. Ackers-Johnson. Edita. Aliwarga. Kenneth Hon Kim. Ban. Denis. Bertrand. John C.. Chambers. Dana Leng Hui. Chan. Cheryl Xue Li. Chan. Miao Li. Chee. Miao Ling. Chee. Pauline. Chen. Yunxin. Chen. Elaine Guo Yan. Chew. Wen Jie. Chew. Lynn Hui Yun. Chiam. Jenny Pek Ching. Chong. Ivan. Chua. Stuart A.. Cook. Wei. Dai. Rajkumar. Dorajoo. Chuan-Sheng. Foo. Rick Siow Mong. Goh. Axel M.. Hillmer. Ishak D.. Irwan. Fazlur. Jaufeerally. Asif. Javed. Justin. Jeyakani. John Tat Hung. Koh. Jia Yu. Koh. Pavitra. Krishnaswamy. Jyn Ling. Kuan. Neelam. Kumari. Ai Shan. Lee. Seow Eng. Lee. Sheldon. Lee. Yen Ling. Lee. See Ting. Leong. Zheng. Li. Peter Yiqing. Li. Jun Xian. Liew. Oi Wah. Liew. Su Chi. Lim. Weng Khong. Lim. Chia Wei. Lim. Tingsen Benson. Lim. Choon Kiat. Lim. Seet Yoong. Loh. Au Wing. Lok. Calvin W. L.. Chin. Shivani. Majithia. Sebastian. Maurer-Stroh. Wee Yang. Meah. Shi Qi. Mok. Niranjan. Nargarajan. Pauline. Ng. Sarah B.. Ng. Zhenyuan. Ng. Jessica Yan Xia. Ng. Ebonne. Ng. Shi Ling. Ng. Simon. Nusinovici. Chin Thing. Ong. Bangfen. Pan. Vincent. Pedergnana. Stanley. Poh. Shyam. Prabhakar. Kumar M.. Prakash. Ivy. Quek. Charumathi. Sabanayagam. Wei Qiang. See. Yee Yen. Sia. Xueling. Sim. Wey Cheng. Sim. Jimmy. So. Dinna K. N.. Soon. E. Shyong. Tai. Nicholas Y.. Tan. Louis C. S.. Tan. Hong Chang. Tan. Wilson Lek Wen. Tan. Moses. Tandiono. Amanda. Tay. Sahil. Thakur. Yih Chung. Tham. Zenia. Tiang. Grace Li-Xian. Toh. Pi Kuang. Tsai. Lavanya. Veeravalli. Chandra S.. Verma. Ling. Wang. Min Rui. Wang. Wing-Cheong. Wong. Zhicheng. Xie. Khung Keong. Yeo. Liang. Zhang. Weiwei. Zhai. Yi. Zhao. Jianjun. Liu. Chaolong. Wang. 17 October 2019. Cell. 179. 3. 736–749.e15. 10.1016/j.cell.2019.09.019. 31626772. 204741427. free. 10356/150428. free.
19. Web site: 17 December 2020, CHI receive Research Group Award. Christchurch Heart. Institute. University of Otago.
20. Web site: Christchurch cardiologist's groundbreaking research recognised. 9 July 2021. Otago Daily Times Online News.