Rate My Professor Chris Pemberton

Professor Chris Pemberton is a Research Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, and Director of the Translational Biodiscovery Laboratory within the Christchurch Heart Institute. He earned his BSc and MSc (Hons) from the University of Canterbury and his PhD from the University of Otago. His research centers on cardioendocrinology, encompassing novel protein and peptide biomarker identification and measurement, cardioendocrine signaling in the circulation and heart tissue, ex vivo studies of novel cardiovascular diagnostic and therapeutic agents, and the commercialization of biomedical technologies. Pemberton leads the Translational Biodiscovery Laboratory, which is audited to FDA standards and operates under ISO15189 regulations. The lab develops advanced assays for biomarkers including atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal pro-BNP (NT-proBNP), C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), adrenomedullin, angiotensin II, and signal peptide fragments from preproproteins. It supports commercial studies for international diagnostic companies such as Roche, Abbott, Sphingotec, and ThermoFisher, and conducts in vitro and ex vivo testing for direct cardiac effects of novel agents.

As Principal Investigator on Health Research Council (HRC), Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) funded projects on signal peptides, and Named Investigator on the Christchurch Heart Institute HRC Programme grant, Pemberton has significantly advanced cardiovascular diagnostics. His accolades include the 2011 HRC Liley Medal and the 2007-2011 HRC Sir Charles Hercus Fellowship. Key publications feature 'Machine learning to optimize the diagnostic performance of natriuretic peptides for acute heart failure across age groups' (ESC Heart Failure, 2026), 'Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3): A biomarker of coronary artery disease induced myocardial ischaemia' (European Heart Journal Open, 2025), 'Lower NT-proBNP plasma concentrations in Pacific peoples with heart failure' (ESC Heart Failure, 2025), and the pioneering 'B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Signal Peptide Circulates in Human Plasma' (Circulation, 2010). Additionally, he serves as Vice President of Discovery at Upstream Medical Technologies and contributes to research commercialization committees in the Division of Health Sciences.