Louise Wain

Louise V. Wain
Alma mater	University of Nottingham
Scientific career
Institutions	University of Leicester
Thesis	Origins of diversity of RNA viruses (2007)

Louise V. Wain is the British Lung Foundation Chair in Respiratory Research at the University of Leicester. Her research considers idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wain studied the long-term impacts of coronavirus disease.

Early life and education

Wain was an undergraduate student at the University of Manchester, where she studied micro- and molecular biology. She remained there for her graduate studies, where she earned a bachelor's degree in bioinformatics. Wain earned her doctoral degree at the University of Nottingham, where she studied RNA viruses. In 2007, after earning her doctorate, Wain moved to the University of Leicester as a postdoctoral research fellow.

Research and career

Wain studies how genetic variations impact a patient's risk of developing respiratory disease. Her research makes use of UK Biobank data to better understand the genetic determinants of blood pressure. Small changes in blood pressure can considerably impact a person's likelihood of developing stroke or cardiovascular disease, and Wain hopes that better understanding the genetics can identify what predicts response to antihypertensive drugs. In 2017 Wain was awarded a British Lung Foundation Chair in Respiratory Research at the University of Leicester.

Wain has studied the genetic differences associated with developing chronic lung disease. In a study of over 400,000 people Wain identified over 100 genetic differences that were likely to increase someone's risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

She has also investigated what puts people at risk of developing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, identifying three genes associated with suffering from (IPF). Typically, people who are diagnosed with IPF die three years after diagnosis and there is no cure. In particular, Wain believes that targeting the AKAP13 biological pathway might lead to new treatments for IPF.

During the COVID-19 pandemic Wain studied the long-term effects of the mild form of coronavirus disease. Between 10 and 20% of users of the COVID Symptom Study application endured symptoms for longer than the average two week period. In July 2020 Wain was awarded £8.4 million to study the health outcomes of patients who were hospitalised with coronavirus disease and went on to have long-term impacts on their health.

Select publications

• Wain, Louise V; Shrine, Nick; Miller, Suzanne; Jackson, Victoria E; Ntalla, Ioanna; Artigas, María Soler; Billington, Charlotte K; Kheirallah, Abdul Kader; Allen, Richard; Cook, James P; Probert, Kelly (2015-10-01). "Novel insights into the genetics of smoking behaviour, lung function, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (UK BiLEVE): a genetic association study in UK Biobank". The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 3 (10): 769–781. doi:10.1016/S2213-2600(15)00283-0. ISSN 2213-2600.

• Wain, Louise V.; Verwoert, Germaine C.; O'Reilly, Paul F.; Shi, Gang; Johnson, Toby; Johnson, Andrew D.; Bochud, Murielle; Rice, Kenneth M.; Henneman, Peter; Smith, Albert V.; Ehret, Georg B. (2011). "Genome-wide association study identifies six new loci influencing pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure". Nature Genetics. 43 (10): 1005–1011. doi:10.1038/ng.922. ISSN 1546-1718.

• Wain, Louise V; Armour, John AL; Tobin, Martin D (2009-07-25). "Genomic copy number variation, human health, and disease". The Lancet. 374 (9686): 340–350. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60249-X. ISSN 0140-6736.