Hugh Montgomery (physician)


Hugh Edward Montgomery is an English professor of medicine and the director of the UCL Institute for Human Health and Performance at University College London. He discovered that an allele of the gene with the DNA code for angiotensin-converting enzyme influences physical fitness; this is the first discovery of a gene related to fitness.

Academic career

Montgomery was educated at Plymouth College and qualified as a medical doctor in July 1987 from the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, University of London. He leads a research group in cardiovascular genetics which has published over 100 publications including original research papers in journals such as Nature, The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine.
He is a Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at UCL and practises as a consultant in critical care at the Whittington Hospital in north London.

Other interests

Montgomery has been awarded the title of London Leader by the London Sustainable Development Commission for his work in climate change and health under the auspices of Project Genie; he was also a founding member of the UK Climate and Health Council and one of the co-authors of the UCL-Lancet Commission in 2009.
Montgomery has complemented his interest in fitness with achievements which include the 100 km ultra marathons, holding the world record for underwater piano playing as well as visiting Everest with the Xtreme Everest research group to undertake research.
He is the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Open Access journal Extreme Physiology & Medicine published by BioMed Central.
Montgomery is the author of the children's book The Voyage of the Arctic Tern.

Awards and honours