Professor Mark Gurnell

Research Interests

Although typically benign, tumours of the pituitary and adrenal glands are associated with increased morbidity and mortality (e.g. due to cardiometabolic dysfunction in acromegaly and Cushing’s syndrome; hypertension in primary aldosteronism). Quality of life is often significantly impaired (lower than for several common malignancies), and many patients require long-term (even life-long) medical therapy.

Our research is focussed on optimising the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions, to allow more patients to access specific, and potentially curative interventions (e.g. surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery, radiofrequency ablation) in a timely manner. For example, we have developed and introduced into routine clinical practice, novel PET imaging techniques, which are transforming the care of a subgroup of patients with pituitary and adrenal tumours – individuals previously deemed unsuitable for surgery and consigned to a lifetime of expensive/poorly tolerated medical treatment, are, in many instances, undergoing curative surgery.

In parallel studies, we perform detailed phenotyping of patients with (i) acromegaly, (ii) TSH-secreting pituitary adenomas and (iii) primary aldosteronism.

Together with Professor Chatterjee and Drs Moran, Oddy and Halsall, we also provide a UK national thyroid function test referral service, offering specialised clinical, biochemical, molecular and radiological phenotyping.

Our expertise is acknowledged through authorship of several recent international guidelines, including:

Pituitary Incidentaloma: Pituitary Society International Consensus Group. Nat Rev Endocrinol – in press.

Acromegaly: Acromegaly Consensus Group. Nat Rev Endocrinol – in press

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1): Delphi Expert Panel. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 2025 PMID: 40523372

Genetic disorders of thyroid hormone transport, metabolism and action: European Thyroid Association Guideline Group. Eur Thyroid J. 2024 PMID:38963712

Acromegaly: Acromegaly Consensus Group. Pituitary, 2023 PMID: 37923946

AVP deficiency: Working Group for renaming Diabetes Insipidus. Eur J Endocrinol, 2022 PMID:36239119

Cushing’s Disease: Pituitary Society. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 2021 PMID:34687601

Prolactinoma: Pituitary Society. Nat Rev Endocrinol, 2023 PMID:37670148

Traumatic Brain Injury: 2nd Lancet Neurology Commission on traumatic brain injury. Lancet Neurol, 2022 PMID:36183712

Group Members

Dr James MacFarlane, Clinical Fellow

Dr Sophie Howarth, Clinical Fellow

Dr Linus Haberbosch, Visiting Clinical Fellow

Mr D Gillett, Assistant Professor

Dr W Bashari, Honorary Consultant

Mr August Palma, Research Nurse

Research funding

BHF

MRC

NIHR

Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre

Publications

Key publications:

Disrupted ACTH and Cortisol Response to Osmotic and Non-Osmotic Stress in Patients with AVP-Deficiency. Nikaj A, Atila C, Chifu I, Ferrante E, Erlic Z, Drummond JB, Indirli R, Drexhage R, Powlson AS, Gurnell M, Rocha BSS, Hofland J, Beuschlein F, Fassnacht M, Winzeler B, Refardt J, Christ-Crain M. Eur J Endocrinol, 2025 Jun 11:lvaf119. doi: 10.1093/ejendo/lvaf119. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40498919
Molecular imaging vs adrenal vein sampling for the detection of surgically curable primary aldosteronism: A prospective within-patient trial. Goodchild E, Wu X, Senanayake R, MacFarlane J, Argentesi G, Laycock K, Bashari WA, Cabrera CP, O’Toole SM, Salsbury J, Benu D, Lee YN, Chua ACN, Matson M, Koo B, Parvanta L, Hilliard N, Kosmoliaptsis V, Marker A, Berney DM, Drew K, Tan W, Foo R, Mein CA, Wozniak E, Kearney J, Savage E, Sahdev A, Bird N, Smith G, Hird M, Warnes V, Gillett D, Dawnay A, Adeyeye E, Aigbirhio F, McIntosh A, McConnachie A, Cruickshank KJ, Cheow H, Gurnell M, Drake WM, Brown MJ. Ann Intern Med, 2025 Mar;178(3):336-347. doi: 10.7326/ANNALS-24-00761. Epub 2025 Mar 4. PMID: 40030172.
Endoscopic, ultrasound-guided, radiofrequency ablation of aldosterone-producing adenomas (FABULAS): a UK, multicentre, prospective, proof-of-concept trial. Argentesi G, Wu X, Ney A, Goodchild E, Laycock K, Lee YN, Senanayake R, MacFarlane J, Ng E, Kearney J, O’Toole S, Salsbury J, Carroll N, Gillett D, Tadross JA, Marker A, Godfrey EM, Goodchild G, Bestwick JP, Gurnell M, Cheow H, Pereira SP, Drake WM, Brown MJ, on behalf of the FABULAS study group. Lancet, 2025 Feb 22;405(10479):637-647. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)02755-7. Epub 2025 Feb 7.PMID: 39929216.
A Phase I/IIa Clinical Trial to Evaluate Safety and Adrenal Uptake of Para-Chloro-2-[18F]Fluoroethyletomidate in Healthy Volunteers and Patients with Primary Aldosteronism. Gillett D, Senanayake R, MacFarlane J, Bashari W, Palma A, Hu L, Harper I, Mendichovszky IA, Antoni G, Hellman P, Sundin A, Hird M, Boros I, Brown MJ, Cheow H, Aloj L, Aigbirhio F, Gurnell M. J Nucl Med, 2025 Mar 3;66(3):434-440. doi: 10.2967/jnumed.124.268425. PMID: 39884776.
Radiation dosimetry of para-chloro-2-[18F]fluoroethyl-etomidate: a PET tracer for adrenocortical imaging. Silins I, Moreno A, Wall A, Aigbirhio F, Gurnell M, Brown M, Roslin S, Antoni G, Hellman P, Sundin A, Lubberink M. EJNMMI Res. 2024 May 21;14(1):48. doi: 10.1186/s13550-024-01109-2. PMID: 38771379.
Arginine or Hypertonic Saline-Stimulated Copeptin to Diagnose AVP Deficiency. Refardt J, Atila C, Chifu I, Ferrante E, Erlic Z, Drummond JB, Indirli R, Drexhage RC, Sailer CO, Widmer A, Felder S, Powlson AS, Hutter N, Vogt DR, Gurnell M, Soares BS, Hofland J, Beuschlein F, Fassnacht M, Winzeler B, Christ-Crain M. N Engl J Med. 2023 Nov 16;389(20):1877-1887. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2306263. PMID: 37966286.
Somatic mutations of CADM1 in aldosterone-producing adenomas and gap junction-dependent regulation of aldosterone production. Wu X, Azizan EAB, Goodchild E, Garg S, Hagiyama M, Cabrera CP, Fernandes-Rosa FL, Boulkroun S, Kuan JL, Tiang Z, David A, Murakami M, Mein CA, Wozniak E, Zhao W, Marker A, Buss F, Saleeb RS, Salsbury J, Tezuka Y, Satoh F, Oki K, Udager AM, Cohen DL, Wachtel H, King PJ, Drake WM, Gurnell M, Ceral J, Ryska A, Mustangin M, Wong YP, Tan GC, Solar M, Reincke M, Rainey WE, Foo RS, Takaoka Y, Murray SA, Zennaro MC, Beuschlein F, Ito A, Brown MJ. Nat Genet. 2023 Jun;55(6):1009-1021. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01403-0. Epub 2023 Jun 8. PMID: 37291193 Free PMC article.
Development of a bespoke phantom to optimize molecular PET imaging of pituitary tumors. Gillett D, Marsden D, Crawford R, Ballout S, MacFarlane J, van der Meulen M, Gillett B, Bird N, Heard S, Powlson AS, Santarius T, Mannion R, Kolias A, Harper I, Mendichovszky IA, Aloj L, Cheow H, Bashari W, Koulouri O, Gurnell M. EJNMMI Phys. 2023 Jun 1;10(1):34. doi: 10.1186/s40658-023-00552-9. PMID: 37261547 Free PMC article.
[11C]metomidate PET-CT versus adrenal vein sampling for diagnosing surgically curable primary aldosteronism: a prospective, within-patient trial. Wu X, Senanayake R, Goodchild E, Bashari WA, Salsbury J, Cabrera CP, Argentesi G, O'Toole SM, Matson M, Koo B, Parvanta L, Hilliard N, Kosmoliaptsis V, Marker A, Berney DM, Tan W, Foo R, Mein CA, Wozniak E, Savage E, Sahdev A, Bird N, Laycock K, Boros I, Hader S, Warnes V, Gillett D, Dawnay A, Adeyeye E, Prete A, Taylor AE, Arlt W, Bhuva AN, Aigbirhio F, Manisty C, McIntosh A, McConnachie A, Cruickshank JK, Cheow H, Gurnell M, Drake WM, Brown MJ. Nat Med. 2023 Jan;29(1):190-202. doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-02114-5. Epub 2023 Jan 16. PMID: 36646800 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
Traumatic brain injury: progress and challenges in prevention, clinical care, and research. Maas AIR, Menon DK, Manley GT, Abrams M, Åkerlund C, Andelic N, Aries M, Bashford T, Bell MJ, Bodien YG, Brett BL, Büki A, Chesnut RM, Citerio G, Clark D, Clasby B, Cooper DJ, Czeiter E, Czosnyka M, Dams-O'Connor K, De Keyser V, Diaz-Arrastia R, Ercole A, van Essen TA, Falvey É, Ferguson AR, Figaji A, Fitzgerald M, Foreman B, Gantner D, Gao G, Giacino J, Gravesteijn B, Guiza F, Gupta D, Gurnell M, Haagsma JA, Hammond FM, Hawryluk G, Hutchinson P, van der Jagt M, Jain S, Jain S, Jiang JY, Kent H, Kolias A, Kompanje EJO, Lecky F, Lingsma HF, Maegele M, Majdan M, Markowitz A, McCrea M, Meyfroidt G, Mikolić A, Mondello S, Mukherjee P, Nelson D, Nelson LD, Newcombe V, Okonkwo D, Orešič M, Peul W, Pisică D, Polinder S, Ponsford J, Puybasset L, Raj R, Robba C, Røe C, Rosand J, Schueler P, Sharp DJ, Smielewski P, Stein MB, von Steinbüchel N, Stewart W, Steyerberg EW, Stocchetti N, Temkin N, Tenovuo O, Theadom A, Thomas I, Espin AT, Turgeon AF, Unterberg A, Van Praag D, van Veen E, Verheyden J, Vyvere TV, Wang KKW, Wiegers EJA, Williams WH, Wilson L, Wisniewski SR, Younsi A, Yue JK, Yuh EL, Zeiler FA, Zeldovich M, Zemek R; InTBIR Participants and Investigators. Lancet Neurol. 2022 Nov;21(11):1004-1060. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(22)00309-X. Epub 2022 Sep 29. PMID: 36183712 Free PMC article. Review.
First-in-human evaluation of [18F]CETO: a novel tracer for adrenocortical tumours. Silins I, Sundin A, Lubberink M, O'Sullivan L, Gurnell M, Aigbirhio F, Brown M, Wall A, Åkerström T, Roslin S, Hellman P, Antoni G. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2023 Jan;50(2):398-409. doi: 10.1007/s00259-022-05957-9. Epub 2022 Sep 8. PMID: 36074157 Free PMC article.
Adrenal function recovery after durable oral corticosteroid sparing with benralizumab in the PONENTE study. Menzies-Gow A, Gurnell M, Heaney LG, Corren J, Bel EH, Maspero J, Harrison T, Jackson DJ, Price D, Lugogo N, Kreindler J, Burden A, de Giorgio-Miller A, Faison S, Padilla K, Martin UJ, Garcia Gil E; PONENTE Study Group. Eur Respir J. 2022 Dec 22;60(6):2103226. doi: 10.1183/13993003.03226-2021. Print 2022 Dec. PMID: 35896216 Free PMC article.
100,000 Genomes Pilot on Rare-Disease Diagnosis in Health Care - Preliminary Report. 100,000 Genomes Project Pilot Investigators; Smedley D, Smith KR, Martin A, Thomas EA, McDonagh EM, Cipriani V, Ellingford JM, Arno G, Tucci A, Vandrovcova J, Chan G, Williams HJ, Ratnaike T, Wei W, Stirrups K, Ibanez K, Moutsianas L, Wielscher M, Need A, Barnes MR, Vestito L, Buchanan J, Wordsworth S, Ashford S, Rehmström K, Li E, Fuller G, Twiss P, Spasic-Boskovic O, Halsall S, Floto RA, Poole K, Wagner A, Mehta SG, Gurnell M, Burrows N, James R, Penkett C, Dewhurst E, Gräf S, Mapeta R, Kasanicki M, Haworth A, Savage H, Babcock M, Reese MG, Bale M, Baple E, Boustred C, Brittain H, de Burca A, Bleda M, Devereau A, Halai D, Haraldsdottir E, Hyder Z, Kasperaviciute D, Patch C, Polychronopoulos D, Matchan A, Sultana R, Ryten M, Tavares ALT, Tregidgo C, Turnbull C, Welland M, Wood S, Snow C, Williams E, Leigh S, Foulger RE, Daugherty LC, Niblock O, Leong IUS, Wright CF, Davies J, Crichton C, Welch J, Woods K, Abulhoul L, Aurora P, Bockenhauer D, Broomfield A, Cleary MA, Lam T, Dattani M, Footitt E, Ganesan V, Grunewald S, Compeyrot-Lacassagne S, Muntoni F, Pilkington C, Quinlivan R, Thapar N, Wallis C, Wedderburn LR, Worth A, Bueser T, Compton C, Deshpande C, Fassihi H, Haque E, Izatt L, Josifova D, Mohammed S, Robert L, Rose S, Ruddy D, Sarkany R, Say G, Shaw AC, Wolejko A, Habib B, Burns G, Hunter S, Grocock RJ, Humphray SJ, Robinson PN, Haendel M, Simpson MA, Banka S, Clayton-Smith J, Douzgou S, Hall G, Thomas HB, O'Keefe RT, Michaelides M, Moore AT, Malka S, Pontikos N, Browning AC, Straub V, Gorman GS, Horvath R, Quinton R, Schaefer AM, Yu-Wai-Man P, Turnbull DM, McFarland R, Taylor RW, O'Connor E, Yip J, Newland K, Morris HR, Polke J, Wood NW, Campbell C, Camps C, Gibson K, Koelling N, Lester T, Németh AH, Palles C, Patel S, Roy NBA, Sen A, Taylor J, Cacheiro P, Jacobsen JO, Seaby EG, Davison V, Chitty L, Douglas A, Naresh K, McMullan D, Ellard S, Temple IK, Mumford AD, Wilson G, Beales P, Bitner-Glindzicz M, Black G, Bradley JR, Brennan P, Burn J, Chinnery PF, Elliott P, Flinter F, Houlden H, Irving M, Newman W, Rahman S, Sayer JA, Taylor JC, Webster AR, Wilkie AOM, Ouwehand WH, Raymond FL, Chisholm J, Hill S, Bentley D, Scott RH, Fowler T, Rendon A, Caulfield M. N Engl J Med. 2021 Nov 11;385(20):1868-1880. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2035790. PMID: 34758253 Free PMC article.
Oral corticosteroid elimination via a personalised reduction algorithm in adults with severe, eosinophilic asthma treated with benralizumab (PONENTE): a multicentre, open-label, single-arm study. Menzies-Gow A, Gurnell M, Heaney LG, Corren J, Bel EH, Maspero J, Harrison T, Jackson DJ, Price D, Lugogo N, Kreindler J, Burden A, de Giorgio-Miller A, Padilla K, Martin UJ, Garcia Gil E. Lancet Respir Med. 2022 Jan;10(1):47-58. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(21)00352-0. Epub 2021 Oct 4. PMID: 34619104
Somatic mutations of GNA11 and GNAQ in CTNNB1-mutant aldosterone-producing adenomas presenting in puberty, pregnancy or menopause. Zhou J, Azizan EAB, Cabrera CP, Fernandes-Rosa FL, Boulkroun S, Argentesi G, Cottrell E, Amar L, Wu X, O'Toole S, Goodchild E, Marker A, Senanayake R, Garg S, Åkerström T, Backman S, Jordan S, Polubothu S, Berney DM, Gluck A, Lines KE, Thakker RV, Tuthill A, Joyce C, Kaski JP, Karet Frankl FE, Metherell LA, Teo AED, Gurnell M, Parvanta L, Drake WM, Wozniak E, Klinzing D, Kuan JL, Tiang Z, Gomez Sanchez CE, Hellman P, Foo RSY, Mein CA, Kinsler VA, Björklund P, Storr HL, Zennaro MC, Brown MJ. Nat Genet. 2021 Sep;53(9):1360-1372. doi: 10.1038/s41588-021-00906-y. Epub 2021 Aug 12. PMID: 34385710 Free PMC article.

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Research at Cambridge