Markus Schlaich is a renal physician and a European Society of Hypertension (ESH) accredited hypertension specialist with a strong background in clinical research. His main scientific interests focus on pathophysiologic aspects of hypertension including the contribution of the sympathetic nervous system, the L-arginine/nitric oxide pathway, their interaction, and the involvement of the kidneys. Professor Schlaich has a specific interest in treatment modalities targeting the sympathetic nervous system and has contributed to the development of renal denervation as a novel therapeutic approach to hypertension.

Markus has been highly successful in attracting competitive grant funding and currently holds an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship. He has authored more than 230 publications and book chapters in peer reviewed journals. For his work in the areas of hypertension, cardiorenal and metabolic disease he received 18 research prizes and awards including the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Medical Research Translation.

Markus has served on the Executive Committee of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia for 6 years and is an elected member of the Council of the International Society of Hypertension, and a founding member of the ESH Working Group on Interventional Treatment of Hypertension. After relocating from Germany in 2006 he became Head of the “Neurovascular Hypertension & Kidney Disease Laboratory” and later on Division Head of the “Hypertension, Stress and Obesity” Program at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Research Institute in Melbourne. In July 2014 he has taken up the newly created and MRF funded “Dobney Chair in Clinical Research” at the Royal Perth Hospital and the University of Western Australia. As Head of the Dobney Hypertension Centre he and his interdisciplinary team strive to develop more effective therapies for hypertension and its adverse consequences.