Rate My Professor Greg Jones

Professor Greg Jones serves as Research Professor and Head of the Department of Surgery and Critical Care in the Dunedin School of Medicine within the University of Otago's Division of Health Sciences. He holds a BSc and PhD from the University of Otago. As leader of the Vascular Research Group, his work concentrates on vascular biology with a strong clinical orientation toward aortic aneurysm, coronary and peripheral arterial disease, and varicose veins. The group utilizes multidisciplinary techniques encompassing molecular biology such as genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics; immunohistopathology; cell culture; and vascular physiology via ultrasonography. Funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, the group is a key member of the Vascular Research Consortium of New Zealand.

Professor Jones' research encompasses vascular disease genetics, biomarker discovery, histopathology, population genetics, cardiovascular disease biomarkers, vascular connective tissue biology, genes involved in vascular disease initiation and progression, circulating biomarkers for vascular risk, early structural and molecular aspects of human arterial disease, and pathobiology of lower limb venous disease including varicose veins, venous ulcers, and post-operative recurrence. He heads an international consortium investigating inherited risk factors for abdominal aortic aneurysm and a national effort to enhance cardiovascular disease screening in Aotearoa New Zealand. Notable publications include 'Meta-Analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Identifies Four New Disease-Specific Risk Loci' (Circulation Research, 2017); 'Genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies risk loci for abdominal aortic aneurysm and highlights PCSK9 as a therapeutic target' (Nature Genetics, 2023); 'Genetics of thoracic and abdominal aortic diseases: aneurysms, dissections, and ruptures' (Circulation Research, 2019); 'A novel infra-red fluorescence method to identify regions of superficial microvenous reflux in patients with chronic venous disease' (Journal of Vascular Surgery: Venous & Lymphatic Disorders, 2026); 'A DNA methylation marker, cg05575921 (AHRR), outperforms self-reported smoking exposure for its association with cardiovascular disease prevalence' (Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2025); and highly cited works such as 'Large-scale association analysis identifies 13 new susceptibility loci for coronary artery disease' (Nature Genetics, 2011). His contributions have advanced genetic understandings of vascular pathologies.