Professor Brown has been at St George’s since 1989, initially as Head of Teratology in the MRC Experimental Embryology and Teratology Unit, before joining the University staff.  He qualified in the 1970’s, including a studentship at the University of Mainz in Germany, progressing to an NIH post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in the USA.  He became an Assistant Professor at George Washington University Medical School in Washington in 1978, returning to the UK with the MRC in 1982.

Professor Brown’s research on the effects of drugs and chemicals on embryonic development led him to be President of the European Teratology Society, and Chairman of the International Federation of Teratology Societies.  He has been an expert advisor to the World Health Organization; World Trade Organization; UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority; UK Department of Health; UK Health & Safety Executive; and many other organizations.

Professor Brown’s more recent research on embryonic heart development, and on left-right asymmetry, was funded by a series of programme grants from the British Heart Foundation.

In Professor Brown’s early research, he was the first to demonstrate a direct effect of alcohol (ethanol) on embryonic development.  He also revealed the potential for the antiepileptic drug valproate to cause spina bifida and other birth defects.  Professor Brown was a pioneer in methods for detecting the ability of drugs and chemicals to cause birth defects without using live animal testing.

In 1990, Professor Brown and co-author Lewis Wolpert, proposed a mechanism by which the embryo develops consistent differences between the left and right sides of the internal body, which stimulated a whole new field of molecular studies.  He later showed how L-R differences are manifested in the heart, in particular the role of the gene pitx2, and how congenital heart defects can result from defects in this pathway.

Professor Brown maintains these interests in recent research, including how PITX2 functions in the adult heart, and showing that variation in this gene can be a cause of atrial fibrillation.  In addition, he has worked on the development of venous valves and of many aspects of the heart.

Since 2015

Kim YJ, Osborn DP, Lee JY, Araki M, Araki K, Mohun T, Känsäkoski J, Brandstack N, Kim HT, Miralles F, Kim CH, Brown NA, Kim HG, Martinez-Barbera JP, Ataliotis P, Raivio T, Layman LC, Kim SH. WDR11-mediated Hedgehog signalling defects underlie a new ciliopathy related to Kallmann syndrome. EMBO Rep. 2018;19(2):269-289.

Aiello VD, Spicer DE, Anderson RH, Brown NA, Mohun TJ. The independence of the infundibular building blocks in the setting of double-outlet right ventricle. Cardiol Young. 2017; 27(5):825-836.

Lyons O, Saha P, Seet C, Kuchta A, Arnold A, Grover S, Rashbrook V, Sabine A, Vizcay-Barrena G, Patel A, Ludwinski F, Padayachee S, Kume T, Kwak BR, Brice G, Mansour S, Ostergaard P, Mortimer P, Jeffery S, Brown N, Makinen T, Petrova TV, Modarai B, Smith A. Human venous valve disease caused by mutations in FOXC2 and GJC2. J Exp Med, 2017, 214, 2437-2452.

Syeda F, Holmes AP, Yu TY, Tull S, Kuhlmann SM, Pavlovic D, Betney D, Riley G, Kucera JP, Jousset F, de Groot JR, Rohr S, Brown NA, Fabritz L, Kirchhof P. PITX2 Modulates Atrial Membrane Potential and the Antiarrhythmic Effects of Sodium-Channel Blockers. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2016; 68(17):1881-1894.

Anderson RH, Mori S, Spicer DE, Brown NA, Mohun TJ. Development and Morphology of the Ventricular Outflow Tracts. World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg. 2016; 7(5):561-77.

Holmes AP, Yu TY, Tull S, Syeda F, Kuhlmann SM, O'Brien SM, Patel P, Brain KL, Pavlovic D, Brown NA, Fabritz L, Kirchhof P. A Regional Reduction in Ito and IKACh in the Murine Posterior Left Atrial Myocardium Is Associated with Action Potential Prolongation and Increased Ectopic Activity. PLoS One. 2016; 11(5):e0154077.

Anderson RH, Brown NA, Mohun TJ. Insights regarding the normal and abnormal formation of the atrial and ventricular septal structures. Clin Anat. 2016; 29(3):290-304.

Chidambarathanu S, Agarwal R, Hussain ZM, Brown NA, Anderson RH. A Tubular Aortopulmonary Window: An Embryological Curiosity. World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery 2016, 7, 411-413.

Ozolinš TR, Weston AD, Perretta A, Thomson JJ, Brown NA. Dimethadione embryotoxicity in the rat is neither correlated with maternal systemic drug concentrations nor embryonic tissue levels. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2015; 289(1):89-97.

Anderson RH, Brown NA, Meno C, Spicer DE. The importance of being isomeric. Clin Anat. 2015; 28(4):477-86.

Anderson RH, Mohun TJ, Brown NA. Clarifying the morphology of the ostium primum defect. J Anat. 2015; 226(3):244-57.

Selected previous publications – only those with more than 100 citations

Bazigou E, Lyons OT, Smith A, Venn GE, Cope C, Brown NA, Makinen T. Genes regulating lymphangiogenesis control venous valve formation and maintenance in mice. J Clin Invest. 2011; 121(8):2984-92.

Kirchhof P, Kahr PC, Kaese S, Piccini I, Vokshi I, Scheld HH, Rotering H, Fortmueller L, Laakmann S, Verheule S, Schotten U, Fabritz L, Brown NA. PITX2c is expressed in the adult left atrium, and reducing Pitx2c expression promotes atrial fibrillation inducibility and complex changes in gene expression. Circ Cardiovasc Genet. 2011; 4(2):123-33.

Mommersteeg MT, Brown NA, Prall OW, de Gier-de Vries C, Harvey RP, Moorman AF, Christoffels VM. Pitx2c and Nkx2-5 are required for the formation and identity of the pulmonary myocardium. Circ Res. 2007; 101(9):902-9.

Mommersteeg MT, Hoogaars WM, Prall OW, de Gier-de Vries C, Wiese C, Clout DE, Papaioannou VE, Brown NA, Harvey RP, Moorman AF, Christoffels VM. Molecular pathway for the localized formation of the sinoatrial node. Circ Res. 2007; 100(3):354-62.

Bajolle F, Zaffran S, Kelly RG, Hadchouel J, Bonnet D, Brown NA, Buckingham ME. Rotation of the myocardial wall of the outflow tract is implicated in the normal positioning of the great arteries. Circ Res. 2006; 98(3):421-8.

Bamforth SD, Bragança J, Farthing CR, Schneider JE, Broadbent C, Michell AC, Clarke K, Neubauer S, Norris D, Brown NA, Anderson RH, Bhattacharya S. Cited2 controls left-right patterning and heart development through a Nodal-Pitx2c pathway. Nat Genet. 2004; 36(11):1189-96.

Zaffran S, Kelly RG, Meilhac SM, Buckingham ME, Brown NA. Right ventricular myocardium derives from the anterior heart field. Circ Res. 2004; 95(3):261-8.

Anderson RH, Webb S, Brown NA, Lamers W, Moorman A. Development of the heart: (3) formation of the ventricular outflow tracts, arterial valves, and intrapericardial arterial trunks. Heart. 2003; 89(9):1110-8.

Liu C, Liu W, Palie J, Lu MF, Brown NA, Martin JF. Pitx2c patterns anterior myocardium and aortic arch vessels and is required for local cell movement into atrioventricular cushions. Development. 2002; 129(21):5081-91.

Genschow E, Spielmann H, Scholz G, Seiler A, Brown N, Piersma A, Brady M, Clemann N, Huuskonen H, Paillard F. The ECVAM international validation study on in vitro embryotoxicity tests: Results of the definitive phase and evaluation of prediction models. ATLA-Alternatives to Laboratory Animals 2002, 30;151-176.

Kelly RG, Brown NA, Buckingham ME. The arterial pole of the mouse heart forms from Fgf10-expressing cells in pharyngeal mesoderm. Dev Cell. 2001;1(3):435-40.

Liu C, Liu W, Lu MF, Brown NA, Martin JF. Regulation of left-right asymmetry by thresholds of Pitx2c activity. Development. 2001; 128(11):2039-48.

Ladher RK, Church VL, Allen S, Robson L, Abdelfattah A, Brown NA, Hattersley G, Rosen V, Luyten FP, Dale L, Francis-West PH. Cloning and expression of the Wnt antagonists Sfrp-2 and Frzb during chick development. Dev Biol. 2000; 218(2):183-98.

Forsberg H, Crozet F, Brown NA. Waves of mouse Lunatic fringe expression, in four-hour cycles at two-hour intervals, precede somite boundary formation. Curr Biol. 1998; 8(18):1027-30.

Webb S, Brown NA, Anderson RH. Formation of the atrioventricular septal structures in the normal mouse. Circ Res. 1998; 82(6):645-56.

Brown NA, Wolpert L. The development of handedness in left/right asymmetry. Development. 1990; 109(1):1-9.

Brown NA, Fabro S. Quantitation of rat embryonic development in vitro: a morphological scoring system. Teratology. 1981; 24(1):65-78.

Brown NA, Goulding EH, Fabro S. Ethanol embryotoxicity: direct effects on mammalian embryos in vitro. Science. 1979; 206(4418):573-5.

Professor Brown has a history of medical school teaching since 1979.  At St George’s he was an active personal tutor, lecturer, small group facilitator, module organizer, and examiner through to his retirement.  He was also a teaching Visiting Professor at the University of Aberdeen and at the University of Surrey, as well as an External Examiner at many UK, European and US universities.

Senior teaching organizational roles at St George’s included:

• Foundation Director, Institute of Medical & Biomedical Education

• Chair: Undergraduate Medicine and Bioscience Education Committee

• Chair: Data Returns Steering Group

• Lead in the formation of the MSc Medical Genomics

• Lead in the creation of the BSc Healthcare Sciences

• Sub-Dean for Cycle 1, MBBS

• Head of Anatomy