Title: The changing paradigm in pharmacological treatment of elevated blood pressure

Abstract: This talk will provide a brief overview of the long-standing dispute between epidemiologists and trialists on the role of pharmacological blood pressure lowering therapy in various at-risk groups. It will summarise the latest evidence from large-scale meta-analyses of clinical trials that have helped resolve some of the major uncertainties. Evidence is also presented on emerging machine learning models that offer a solution for better selection of individuals for treatment. Finally, with a brief reference to the challenges of conducting clinical trials, a digital trial management platform is introduced that is substantially improving the efficiency of trial conduct.

Biography: Kazem Rahimi is a Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Population Health, at the University of Oxford and a consultant cardiologist at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. His research interests include hypertension, heart failure, multimorbidity and cardiovascular risk management, using a variety of methodologies such as individual-patient meta-analysis, large-scale decentralised clinical trials, and digital health technologies. Kazem leads the Deep Medicine programme at the Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health with a major interest in application of machine learning approaches to electronic health records. He also leads the Blood Pressure Lowering Treatment Trialists’ Collaboration (BPLTTC), which is an international collaboration of all the major trials of blood pressure lowering drugs. He is the co-founder of Zeesta (www.zeesta.ai), an end-to-end digital platform for conduct of clinical trials. 

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