Ruth Andrew (BSc, PhD, MRPharmS)
Personal Chair of Pharmaceutical Endocrinology

Address
- Street
-
The Queen's Medical Research Institute,
Edinburgh BioQuarter,
47 Little France Crescent - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH16 4TJ
Background
Ruth Andrew graduated as a pharmacist from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK in 1989 and carried out her PhD in pharmaceutical analysis using GC-MS to study synthesis and metabolism of adrenal medullary hormones in hypertensive subjects. She gained a lectureship in the University of Edinburgh in 1994 and was awarded a Chair in Pharmaceutical Endocrinology in 2015. She specialises in understanding regulation of glucocorticoid action in metabolic and inflammatory diseases and has developed innovative tools to study steroid metabolism and flux in vivo, most recently by mass spectrometry imaging. She also is the Director of the Mass Spectrometry Core of the Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility; this laboratory supports a broad spectrum support for clinical researchers requiring small molecule analysis in their research programmes, including studies of toxicology, drug discovery, experimental physiology and pathology. She plays an active role in undergraduate and post-graduate teaching in Endocrine Pharmacology.
Qualifications
BSc Hons First Class Pharmacy (specialisation Pharmaceutical Chemistry)
PhD Pharmaceutical Chemistry
MRPharmS
Post-graduate Certificate in Higher Education
Responsibilities & affiliations
Director, Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility, Mass Spectrometry Core
Society for Endocrinology Trustee, Council Member and Finance Committee Member
Scottish Metabolomics Network, Treasurer
European Oxysterol Research Network Scientific Board
British Journal of Pharmacology Editor
Frontiers in Endocrinology, Specialty Chief Editor, Systems Endocrinology
Chair Seminar Committee, Centre for Cardiovascular Science.
Undergraduate teaching
Endocrine Physiology and Pharmacology, Honours Biomedical Sciences, Deputy Course Organiser
Contributing Lecturer, Y3 BSc Clinical Biochemistry and Endocrinology
Postgraduate teaching
Centre for Cardiovascular Science Post-graduate Committee Member
University Post-graduate Appeals Committee Member
Contributing Lecturer, MSc Cardiovascular Biology
External Lecturer,MSc Pharmaceutical Analysis, University of Strathclyde
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Research summary
My research interests are in steroid biochemistry and applied mass spectrometry. I study glucocorticoids and their actions on fuel metabolism and inflammation. I have a particular interest in the enzyme 5alpha-reductase, which activates androgens and modulates glucocorticoid action. Inhibitors of the enzyme used in prostate disease alter steroid hormone action and my group has shown that inhibition of this enzyme increases susceptibility to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. I am also interested in studying 5alpha-reduced glucocorticoids as potential dissociated glucocorticoid receptor modulators. Lastly I apply mass spectrometry to enable tracking of steroid metabolism, using stable-isotope tracers and also advanced methods of MS detection e.g. imaging.
Current research interests
Pharmacoepidemiology of adverse effects of 5alpha-reductase inhibitors on devlopment of type 2 diabetes. The role of 5alpha-reductases in modulating fuel homeostaisis. Application of advanced mass spectrometry to visualise and track steroid hormoness in biological systems.Knowledge exchange
Consultant for Actinogen Medical
-
ABCC1 modulates negative feedback control of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in vivo in humans
In:
Metabolism, vol. 128, pp. 155118
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2021.155118
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Derivatization with 2-Hydrazino-1-methylpyridine Enhances Sensitivity of Analysis of 5α-Dihydrotestosterone in Human Plasma by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry
In:
Journal of Chromatography A
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2021.461933
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Effects of Obesity And Insulin on Tissue-Specific Recycling Between Cortisol And Cortisone in Men
In:
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgaa896
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Mass spectrometry: future opportunities for profiling and imaging steroids and steroid metabolites
In:
Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coemr.2020.11.005
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Insights from the Menstrual Cycle in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
In:
Annals of the American Thoracic Society
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202006-671OC
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Sexual dimorphism in cortisol metabolism throughout pubertal development: a longitudinal study
In:
Endocrine connections
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/EC-20-0123
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Exploring the Temporal Relation between Body Mass Index and Corticosteroid Metabolite Excretion in Childhood
In:
Nutrients, vol. 12, pp. 1525
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12051525
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Estrogen Signaling and Portopulmonary Hypertension: The Pulmonary Vascular Complications of Liver Disease Study (PVCLD2)
In:
Hepatology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.31314
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Diet-induced weight loss alters hepatic glucocorticoid metabolism in type 2 diabetes mellitus
In:
European Journal of Endocrinology, vol. 182, pp. 447-457
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/EJE-19-0901
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Long-term stability of cortisol production and metabolism throughout adolescence: longitudinal twin study
In:
Twin Research and Human Genetics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/thg.2020.6
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Highlights into the pharmacology of nutraceuticals
In:
British Journal of Pharmacology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.15006
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Editorial (Published) -
Maternal glucocorticoid metabolism across pregnancy: a potential mechanism underlying fetal glucocorticoid exposure
In:
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, vol. 105
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgz313
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
EXPRESS: Estrogen metabolites in a small cohort of patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension
In:
Pulmonary circulation, pp. 204589402090878
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2045894020908783
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
MASS SPECTROMETRY IMAGING OF LIPIDS
Research output: › Chapter (Published) -
Estrogens and glucocorticoids in mammary adipose tissue: Relationships with body mass index and breast cancer features
In:
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, vol. 105, pp. e1504–e1516
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgz268
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Simultaneous quantification of estrogens and glucocorticoids in human adipose tissue by liquid-chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
In:
Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, vol. 195
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsbmb.2019.105476
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Quantitative analysis of 11-dehydrocorticosterone and corticosterone for preclinical studies by liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry
In:
Rapid communications in mass spectrometry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.8610
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Heritability of cortisol production and metabolism throughout adolescence: a twin study
In:
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgz016
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Urinary estrogens as a non-invasive biomarker of viable pregnancy in the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
In:
Scientific Reports
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49288-6
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Role of hepatic glucocorticoid receptor in metabolism in models of 5αR1 Deficiency in Male Mice
In:
Endocrinology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2019-00236
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)
Organiser
Programme Organising Committee Member as follows
Society for Endocrinology Career Development Workshop Co-organiser 2007-2014
Metabolomics Society, Glasgow 2013
Scoiety for Endocrinology, UK Meetings, 2013-2018
Scottish Metabolomics Network, Edinburgh 2015
Androgens, Edinbrugh 2018
European Oxysterol Research Network, Edinburgh 2019