Rate My Professor Tim Prickett

Tim Prickett, holding an MSc and PhD from the University of Otago, serves as Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, and is a member of the Christchurch Heart Institute. His research specializes in cardioendocrinology, with a primary focus on natriuretic peptides, including A-type (ANP), B-type (BNP), and particularly C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) and its precursor NT-proCNP. Prickett has contributed significantly to understanding the physiological roles of these peptides in cardiovascular health, inflammation, cardio-metabolic conditions, heart failure, and skeletal growth disorders. Collaborating extensively with Emeritus Professor Eric Espiner, his work has advanced the measurement of these hormones in blood for diagnosing and managing heart disease, building on three decades of research at the Christchurch Heart Institute. Notable achievements include a world-first study demonstrating CNP's protective role against inflammation-induced vascular damage, linking elevated CNP levels to stiffer arteries, impaired heart function, higher fat levels, and reduced kidney function in healthy cohorts aged 28 and 50. Prickett has secured substantial research funding, including over $154,000 from NZ Lottery Health Research in 2023 for two projects at the Christchurch School of Medicine, Heart Foundation grants, and $112,205 from the Health Research Council in 2025 for investigating natriuretic peptide metabolism and insulin resistance.

Prickett's prolific publication record features key papers such as 'Effect of vosoritide therapy on IGF-I and endogenous C-type natriuretic peptide in hypochondroplasia' (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2025, with R.K. Shankar et al.); 'C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) and collagen X marker (CXM) are aberrant in skeletal dysplasias' (Journal of Bone & Mineral Research, 2025, with R.S. Carroll et al.); 'Association of natriuretic peptides and receptor activity with cardio-metabolic health at middle age' (2024); 'Pro-C-type natriuretic peptide in women with angina pectoris and no obstructive coronary artery disease' (JACC: Advances, 2025, with P.D. Mark et al.); 'Dynamic Response of Musclin, a Myokine, to Aerobic Exercise and its Interplay with Natriuretic Peptides' (letter, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2025); and 'Plasma neprilysin in heart failure: Response dynamics and clinical associations' (Clinical Chemistry, 2025, with S.S.M. Ling et al.). His studies have elucidated CNP's responses to inflammation in children, sex steroids, and therapies like sacubitril/valsartan, influencing fields of endocrinology and cardiology through enhanced predictive biomarkers for cardiovascular risk.