Dr Paul Morris

BMedSci, MBChB, MRCP, PhD, PGCME, FHEA

Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health

Senior Clinical Lecturer in Cardiology, Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellow

Honorary Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Paul Morris (Cardiology)
Paul Morris
Profile picture of Paul Morris (Cardiology)
paul.morris@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 215 9545
The Medical School

Full contact details

Dr Paul Morris
Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health
The Medical School
Beech Hill Road
Sheffield
S10 2RX
Profile

For enquiries please contact - ClinMed-Operational@sheffield.ac.uk

I joined the University of Sheffield in 1998 to study Medicine. I quickly developed an interest in clinical cardiology and academic research, and I intercalated a BMedSci degree investigating the role of testosterone in men with heart disease; work that was awarded the inaugural Royal Society of Medicine Research prize. I graduated as a medical doctor in 2004, top of my year and was awarded with the Dr Mark Gregory Baker, Ashby-de-la-Zouch prize. I became a member of the Royal College of Physicians in 2007. Since then, I have held an NIHR Clinical Academic Fellowship (NIHR), a Clinical Research Training Fellowship (British Heart Foundation), a Clinical Lectureship (NIHR), the British Cardiovascular Interventions Society Interventional Fellowship (Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada) and I am currently a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellow, working as a clinical academic at the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Clinical work. I work as an NHS consultant cardiologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. As an interventional cardiologist, I specialise in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, ‘stenting’). I have sub-specialty interest and expertise in complex PCI, CTO (chronic total occlusion) PCI and invasive coronary physiological assessment. The latter helps in the care of patients with epicardial and microvascular coronary disease (also known as ANOCA – angina with no obstructive coronary artery disease).

Research interests

My research is focused on computational, physics-based mathematical modelling of cardiovascular physiology and heart disease. I lead the continued development of the VIRTUheart suite of cardiovascular physiological simulation methods which is an image-based model that computes fractional flow reserve (FFR), flow and resistance in the coronary arterial circulation. Current work focusses on the integration of x-ray angiography with optical coherence tomography (OCT) to develop detailed and comprehensive 3D models of coronary disease that bring anatomy and physiology together into comprehensive clinical assessment tools. Other projects are focused on the in vivo validation of the virtuQ tool for computing absolute coronary physiology.

I have done significant work on coronary morphometric scaling; i.e. the relationships between arterial size and blood flow, with particular focus on bifurcation physiology. A meta-analysis on various morphometric scaling laws including Murray’s law, can be found here. I am also interested in use of non-invasive imaging (cardiac MRI) can be used to derive metrics of coronary physiology. Published early pilot work on this project can be found here. I am also leading the development of zero-dimensional models of cardiovascular physiology, with the aim of understanding the link between ischaemia and cardiac function.

I am also leading a collaboration between the University of Sheffield and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), where we are seeking to use Zero-dimensional models to predict the response of the ageing and diseased cardiovascular system to the acceleration forces involved in commercial spaceflight. A more detailed description of this work published in Nature Reviews Cardiology, co-authored with NASA, Virgin Galactic, UK CAA and the RAF, can be found here.

Image from the VIRTUheart™ workflow

Image from the VIRTUheart™ workflow. VIRTUheart predicts pressure and flow dynamics within coronary arteries. These data inform decisions about how to treat coronary artery disease with tablets, PCI (stenting) or bypass surgery. 

Publications

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Conference proceedings papers

Preprints

Grants
  • UK-CAA Spaceflight. Computational modelling to risk stratify commercial spaceflight. £200,000. 2023-2024.
  • British Heart Foundation. Translational Award no TG/19/1/34451. How will virtual (computed) fractional flow reserve (vFFR) impact the management of coronary artery disease? (VIRTU-4). 2019. £370,679.
  • National Institute for Health Research, Invention for Innovation (i4i). A prototype tool to calculate 'virtual' myocardial fractional flow reserve (vFFR) non-invasively (VIRTU-3). II-LB-0216-20006. £282,186.
  • Wellcome Trust. Clinical Research Career Development Fellowship. Morris PD. Computational modelling to improve the assessment and management of patients with coronary artery disease. 2019. £570,000.
Teaching interests

I enjoy teaching clinical cardiology to undergraduates and post-graduates. I teach clinical skills to medical students and doctors on the wards and in the clinic.

I have written textbooks and chapters of books focused on clinical and academic aspects of clinical cardiology. I also enjoy teaching about cardiac physiology and fluid dynamics modelling.

I have a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education and have recently become a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Professional activities and memberships

I am Director for Clinical Translation at the Insigneo Institute. I sit on the NIHR-BHF Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction Workstream Steering Committee. I am phase lead for Cardiology Teaching on the Sheffield Medical (MBChB) and Physician Associate (MMedSci) courses. I am also a member of the British Cardiovascular Society, the British Cardiovascular Interventions Society, the Royal College of Physicians and the European Society of Cardiology.

 
Invention and innovation

My research has led to several innovations. In 2012, I led the development of angiography-derived ‘virtual’ fractional flow reserve (vFFR), an approach that has translated into routine clinical practice to assess the physiological significance of coronary disease in the cardiac catheter laboratory. Similar image-based CFD modelling methods were used to develop the patented virtuQ method of computing absolute coronary flow, microvascular resistance and flow reserve. I also co-led to the development of the patented GuideGlideTM  catheter that is designed to improve comfort and safety of radial access procedures during radial coronary intervention.

Links

The Insigneo Institute for in silico Medicine  Pocket Tutor Heart Disease book  Cardiac Pathology: A Guide to Current Practice book  Practical Interventional Cardiology: Third Edition book