# Colin Berry
**Colin Berry** is a cardiologist and Professor of Cardiology and Imaging at the [University of Glasgow](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-glasgow), where he served as Director of the British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence (2021–2024) and Director of Research in the School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health (2022–2025)[1](https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cardiovascularmetabolic/staff/colinberry/). He is a Consultant Cardiologist at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, and was formerly a Consultant Cardiologist at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, which closed in 2015[2](https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/consultants/professor-colin-berry).[18](https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15659281.demolition-starts-western-infirmary-hospital-glasgow/) His research uses MRI and coronary "pressure wires" and aims to identify new treatments for patients who have had a heart attack[2](https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/consultants/professor-colin-berry). The MR-INFORM trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2019, tested whether treatment of [stable angina](https://www.edgepedia.org/stable-angina) selected on the basis of cardiovascular MRI myocardial perfusion imaging is non-inferior to selection based on angiography and fractional flow reserve[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3304865/) • [4](https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/147737/3/nejmoa1716734.pdf).
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Chair | Professor of Cardiology and Imaging, University of Glasgow[1](https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cardiovascularmetabolic/staff/colinberry/) |
| Clinical posts | Golden Jubilee National Hospital; Western Infirmary, Glasgow[2](https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/consultants/professor-colin-berry) |
| Training | Studied medicine at Glasgow (1987–1993); PhD Glasgow (2002), advisor A F Dominiczak[1](https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cardiovascularmetabolic/staff/colinberry/) • [5](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/76039/) |
| Signature work | Endotyping-informed therapy randomized trial, Nature Medicine, 2025[6](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04044-4) |
| Key trial result | MRI-guided care non-inferior to FFR-guided care; index revascularization 35.7% vs 45.0%[4](https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/147737/3/nejmoa1716734.pdf) |
| Post-COVID research | High likelihood of myocarditis in 13.2% of hospitalized participants with matched proteomic and imaging data[7](https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2025-326786) |
## Training and career
Berry studied medicine at the University of Glasgow from 1987 to 1993 and took a physiology Maîtrise at the [University of Paris](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-paris) from 1989 to 1990[1](https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cardiovascularmetabolic/staff/colinberry/). His PhD in cardiovascular science at Glasgow, awarded in 2002 for a thesis on reactive oxygen species in human blood vessels, was advised by A F Dominiczak[5](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/76039/), and the studies were supported by a Medical Research Council Clinical Training Fellowship[2](https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/consultants/professor-colin-berry).
ORCID records a Visiting Clinician Scientist post at the National Institutes of Health from March 2007 to February 2010 and a Senior Fellowship from the Scottish Funding Council from August 2009 to July 2013[9](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4547-8636), as well as a locum consultant cardiologist post at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow from October 2006 to March 2007[9](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4547-8636).
His clinical innovations include being the first British clinician to undertake transcatheter aortic valve replacement in 2005, and a world-first MRI mapping of heart attack injury at the NHS Golden Jubilee Hospital in 2011[1](https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cardiovascularmetabolic/staff/colinberry/).
## Coronary imaging: the MR-INFORM trial
MR-INFORM tested whether treatment of stable angina selected on the basis of cardiovascular MRI myocardial perfusion imaging is non-inferior to selection based on angiography and fractional flow reserve (FFR)[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3304865/). The trial randomized 918 patients with typical angina and either two or more cardiovascular risk factors or a positive exercise treadmill test to an MRI-based or an FFR-based strategy[4](https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/147737/3/nejmoa1716734.pdf).
The primary outcome, a composite of death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or target-vessel revascularization within one year, occurred in 15 of 421 patients (3.6%) in the MRI group and 16 of 430 (3.7%) in the FFR group, meeting the noninferiority threshold[4](https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/147737/3/nejmoa1716734.pdf). Fewer patients in the MRI group underwent index revascularization (162 [35.7%] versus 209 [45.0%], P=0.005)[4](https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/147737/3/nejmoa1716734.pdf).
## Chest pain with unobstructed arteries: endotyping
Angina can persist when angiograms show clear coronary arteries, because standard angiograms cannot image the heart's smaller blood vessels[8](https://www.bhf.org.uk/research-projects/the-clinical-utility-of-cardiac-magnetic-resonance-imaging-in-patients-with-angina-but-no-obstructiv). Stress cardiovascular MRI can measure myocardial blood flow, detect coronary microvascular dysfunction, and assign an individual patient to an "endotype", a biologically defined disease subtype, but randomized evidence of clinical utility had been lacking[11](https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/370166/).
The CorMicA study enrolled 391 people undergoing angiography for angina at two Scottish hospitals between November 2016 and November 2017; the 151 with unobstructed arteries, around three quarters of them women, underwent tests that identified four functional groups[12](https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/our-research/impact-of-clinical-trials/coronary-heart-disease/cormica-trial). In a related randomized trial of invasive endotyping, 55.0% had microvascular angina, 11.7% vasospastic angina, and 7.4% both[13](https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/308189/). Disclosing the test results made a coronary vasomotor diagnosis four times more likely (odds ratio 4.05) and raised the diagnosis frequency to 76.5%[13](https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/308189/).
The 2025 [Nature Medicine](https://www.edgepedia.org/nature-medicine) endotyping-informed therapy trial applied this logic non-invasively: 250 patients (mean age 63.3 years; 50.4% female) with chest pain and no obstructive coronary artery disease were randomized 1:1 to adenosine stress cardiovascular MRI-guided management[11](https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/370166/). The initial angiogram-based diagnosis was reclassified in 131 patients (53.0%)[11](https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/370166/). At 12 months the Seattle Angina Questionnaire summary score was 70.9 in the intervention group versus 52.1 in controls, an adjusted mean difference of 20.9 (95% CI 15.8–26.0)[6](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04044-4). A 2026 Open Heart analysis of the same 250-patient Coronary Microvascular Angina CMR Imaging Trial reported more targeted prescribing under CMR guidance, including more calcium channel blockers (43.5% versus 27.0%) and long-acting nitrates (56.5% versus 32.5%)[14](https://doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2026-004135).
## Post-COVID-19 cardio-renal research
In a study of people hospitalized for COVID-19 with matched proteomic and imaging data, a high likelihood of myocarditis was identified in 13.2% (21 of 159) of participants[7](https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2025-326786). High-sensitivity troponin-I was modestly elevated at enrollment (median 3 ng/L), and troponin elevation, exemplified here by COVID-19, could reflect systemic vascular injury rather than injury confined to the heart[7](https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2025-326786).
## Funding, honors and industry links
The FAMOUS-NSTEMI trial of FFR versus angiography guidance in non-[ST-elevation myocardial infarction](https://www.edgepedia.org/st-elevation-myocardial-infarction) was supported by a BHF Project Grant (PG/11/55/28999)[15](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4291317/). He is a Fellow of the [Royal College of Physicians](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-college-of-physicians) and Surgeons of Glasgow, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the American College of Cardiology, and the [European Society of Cardiology](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-society-of-cardiology), and serves as an Editor of the European Heart Journal[16](https://2025scmr.eventscribe.net/fsPopup.asp?PresenterId=2021705&mode=presenterinfo).
His research has institutional agreements with Abbott Vascular, AstraZeneca, GSK, Menarini, Opsens, Heartflow, Novartis, and Siemens Healthcare[17](https://www.nhsresearchscotland.org.uk/uploads/tinymce/NHS-GGC-PPI_Colin-Berry_2019-04-25.pdf).
## Representative work
- **"Stratified Medical Therapy Using Invasive Coronary Function Testing in Angina"**, *Journal of the American College of Cardiology* (2018), [doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2018.09.006](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2018.09.006).
## References
1. [Professor Colin Berry, University of Glasgow staff profile](https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cardiovascularmetabolic/staff/colinberry/)
2. [Professor Colin Berry, Cardiology, Nuffield Health](https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/consultants/professor-colin-berry)
3. [Design and rationale of the MR-INFORM study (2012)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3304865/)
4. [Magnetic Resonance Perfusion or Fractional Flow Reserve in Coronary Disease (MR-INFORM, NEJM 2019)](https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/147737/3/nejmoa1716734.pdf)
5. [Reactive Oxygen Species in Human Blood Vessels, Enlighten Theses](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/76039/)
6. [Endotyping-informed therapy for patients with chest pain and no obstructive coronary artery disease (Nature Medicine, 2025)](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04044-4)
7. [Proteomic insights into troponin elevation following COVID-19 infection (Heart, 2025)](https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2025-326786)
8. [The clinical utility of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in patients with angina but no obstructive coronary disease (CorCMR), BHF](https://www.bhf.org.uk/research-projects/the-clinical-utility-of-cardiac-magnetic-resonance-imaging-in-patients-with-angina-but-no-obstructiv)
9. [Colin Berry, ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4547-8636)
10. [Comparing Cardiac Magnetic Resonance–Guided Versus Angiography-Guided Treatment (JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, 2018)](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1936878X18304406)
11. [Endotyping-informed therapy trial (Glasgow eprints record)](https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/370166/)
12. [CorMicA trial, BHF](https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/our-research/impact-of-clinical-trials/coronary-heart-disease/cormica-trial)
13. [Invasive endotyping in patients with angina and no obstructive coronary artery disease (Glasgow eprints record)](https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/308189/)
14. [Non-invasive endotyping improves treatment satisfaction and prescribing appropriateness in patients with ANOCA (Open Heart, 2026)](https://doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2026-004135)
15. [FAMOUS-NSTEMI randomized trial (PMC)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4291317/)
16. [Colin Berry, MD, PhD, SCMR 2025 speaker profile](https://2025scmr.eventscribe.net/fsPopup.asp?PresenterId=2021705&mode=presenterinfo)
17. [Professor Colin Berry, NHS Research Scotland presentation (2019)](https://www.nhsresearchscotland.org.uk/uploads/tinymce/NHS-GGC-PPI_Colin-Berry_2019-04-25.pdf)
18. [15659281.demolition starts western infirmary hospital glasgow (heraldscotland.com)](https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15659281.demolition-starts-western-infirmary-hospital-glasgow/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Medical and health researchers › Researchers in cardiovascular, metabolic, and endocrine research › Cardiac imaging researchers*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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