Jason Tarkin
BHF Senior Clinical Research Fellow
Principal Investigator
Email: jt545@cam.ac.uk
Twitter: @jmtarkin
Biography
Jason Tarkin is a BHF Senior Clinical Research Fellow and Associate Professor at the Heart & Lung Institute of the University of Cambridge. He is also an Honorary Consultant Cardiologist with an imaging sub-specialty at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust. In addition, he is the Treasurer of the British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging; the PET/CT co-lead for the MRC-BHF UK Cardio-IMID Network; and a member of the British Atherosclerosis Society Executive Committee; the British Cardiovascular Society Imaging Council and the Working Group on Ischaemic Heart Disease; and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging Special Interest Group on Imaging, Genomics & Innovation. He is also a member of the Editorial Board for Circulation Cardiovascular Imaging.
Jason was awarded summa cum laude with honors in Biology from the University of New Hampshire in 2003, and graduated with Distinction in Medicine from St. George's, University of London in 2008. He received a PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2017. For his doctoral research, he won both the American Heart Association Melvin Judkin’s Young Investigator Award in 2016 and the American College of Cardiology William W Parmley Young Author Achievement Award in 2018. He trained in Cardiology at the Barts Heart Centre, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, and Hammersmith Hospital, where he was previously an NIHR Clinical Lecturer at Imperial College London. Then from 2019 to 2026 he was a Wellcome Clinical Research Career Development Fellow. During this time, he was also a Junior Research Fellow at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge.
Research Approach:
Dr Tarkin’s Research Group applies novel multi-modality imaging approaches, coupled with deep molecular and cellular profiling, to examine inflammatory disease activity in patients with atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular conditions. Ultimately, the aim of this research is to discover new avenues for improved diagnostics, risk-stratification and therapeutic interventions in cardiovascular disease.
Current projects:
- We are actively investigating the clinical translational value of quantifying and tracking cardiovascular inflammation using somatostatin receptor PET/MR imaging: i) as a prognostic marker of atherosclerotic plaque progression and adverse cardiac remodelling; ii) for diagnosis and therapy monitoring in large vessel vasculitis; iii) as a readout for proof-of-mechanism experimental medicine studies in atherosclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus; and iv) for use in other cardio-inflammatory diseases including Fabry cardiomyopathy and autoimmune myocarditis.
- In the BHF-DZHK-DHF International Cardiovascular Research Partnership ‘PLAK-TALK’, we are investigating intercellular communication pathways in atherosclerosis and plaque destabilisation, linking molecular mechanisms and cellular interactions with clinically measurable imaging and blood-based biomarkers.
Selected Publications
For current list of publications, see: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=tarkin+j
- Wall C, Weir-McCall J, Tweed K, Hoole SP, Gopalan D, Huang Y, Ćorović A, Peverelli M, Dey D, Bennett MR, Rudd JHF, Kydd A, Bhagra S, Tarkin JM. CT pericoronary adipose tissue density predicts coronary allograft vasculopathy and adverse clinical outcomes after cardiac transplantation. EHJ Cardiovasc Imaging 2024;25(7):1018-1027.
- Ćorović A, Zhao X, Huang Y, Newland S, Gopalan D, Harrison J, Giakomidi D, Chen S, Yarkoni NS, Wall C, Sriranjan R, Peverelli M, Gallo A, Graves MJ, Dage A, Lyons PA, Sithole N, Bennett MR, Rudd JHF, Mallat Z, Zhao T, Nus M, Tarkin JM. COVID-19 related myocardial injury is associated with immune dysregulation in symptomatic patients with cardiac MRI abnormalities. Cardiovascular Res 2024;cvae159.
- Ćorović A, Wall C, Nus M, Gopalan D, Huang Y, Imaz M, Zulcinski M, Peverelli M, Uryga A, Lambert J, Bressan D, Maughan RT, Pericleous C, Dubash S, Jordan N, Jayne DR, Hoole SP, Calvert PA, Dean AF, Rassl D, Barwick T, Iles M, Frontini M, Hannon G, Manavaki R, Fryer TD, Aloj L, Graves MJ, Gilbert FJ, Dweck MR, Newby DE, Fayad ZA, Reynolds G, Morgan AW, Aboagye EO, Davenport AP, Jørgensen HF, Mallat Z, Bennett MR, Peters JE, Rudd JHF, Mason JC, Tarkin JM. Somatostatin Receptor PET/MR Imaging of Inflammation in Patients With Large Vessel Vasculitis and Atherosclerosis. J Am Coll Cardiol 2023; 81:336-354.
- Ćorović A, Gopalan D, Wall C, Peverelli M, Hoole SP, Calvert PA, Manavaki R, Fryer TD, Aloj L, Graves MJ, Bennett MR, Rudd JHF, Tarkin JM. Novel Approach for Assessing Postinfarct Myocardial Injury and Inflammation Using Hybrid Somatostatin Receptor Positron Emission Tomography/Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging 2023 ;16:e014538.
- Wall C, Huang Y, Le EPV, Ćorović A, Uy CP, Gopalan D, Ma C, Manavaki R, Fryer TD, Aloj L, Graves MJ, Tombetti E, Ariff B, Bambrough P, Hoole SP, Rusk RA, Jayne DR, Dweck MR, Newby D, Fayad ZA, Bennett MR, Peters JE, Slomka P, Dey D, Mason JC, Rudd JHF, Tarkin JM. Pericoronary and periaortic adipose tissue density are associated with inflammatory disease activity in Takayasu arteritis and atherosclerosis. Eur Heart J Open 2021; 1:oeab019.
- Tarkin JM, Calcagno C, Dweck MR, Evans NR, Chowdhury MM, Gopalan D, Newby DE, Fayad ZA, Bennett MR, Rudd JHF. 68Ga-DOTATATE PET identifies residual myocardial inflammation and bone marrow activation after myocardial infarction. J Am Coll Cardiol 2019; 73:2489-2491.
- Tarkin JM, Joshi FR, Evans NR, Chowdhury MM, Figg NL, Shah AV, Starks LT, Manavaki R, Martin-Garrido A, Yu E, Kuc RE, Grassi L, Kreuzhuber R, Kostadima M, Frontini M, Ouewhand WH, Groves AM, Gopalan D, Kirkpatrick PJ, Coughlin PA, Buscombe JR, Fryer TD, Bennett MR, Warburton EA, Davenport AP, Rudd JH. Detection of atherosclerotic inflammation by 68Ga-DOTATATE PET compared to 18F-FDG PET imaging. J Am Coll Cardiol 2017; 69:1774-91.
Group Members:
Dr Andrej Ćorović
Dr Christopher Wall
Dr Marta Peverelli
Dr Thomas Bond
Dr George Collins
Collaborators:
Prof James Rudd
Prof Ziad Mallat
Dr Meritxell Nus
Dr Helle Jørgensen
Dr Nicholas Evans
Dr Jonathan Weir-McCall
