Kenneth Baillie
Kenneth Baillie, Professor of Experimental Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, is a medical scientist working in genomics in critical care medicine and respiratory infection.
Research
Through his work in genomics, he has made several discoveries including finding multiple human genes that are important in critical illness caused by influenza. and COVID-19. He started the GenOMICC study in 2016, to study genetic predisposition to a wide range of severe infections. In 2020 he expanded the study and used it to discover human genes that cause susceptibility to severe Covid-19 This discovery led directly to the finding that a new drug, baricitinib, is an effective treatment for severe Covid-19. He discovered a further 23 genes underlying severe Covid-19 in 2021.He also played a leading role in designing, setting up and delivering the RECOVERY Trial that discovered four effective treatments for critical Covid-19. He was one of the first to systematically review the evidence for steroid treatment in Covid-19, warning of the need for trials in 2020, and contributing to the discovery that the steroid, dexamethasone, works as a highly effective treatment. He led the UK ISARIC4C consortium, which coordinated UK-wide clinical research to understand Covid-19
In 2001 he led the first Apex research expedition to a high altitude laboratory in Bolivia, and discovered that acute mountain sickness is two separate conditions, leading to a new international consensus definition of the disease.