Will Herrington

MA, MBBS, MD, FRCP, FERA

Professor of Trials and Epidemiology of Kidney Disease, Renal Studies Group

Professor of Trials and Epidemiology of Kidney Disease
Honorary Consultant Nephrologist, Oxford Kidney Unit

BIOGRAPHY

Professor Will Herrington is a clinician scientist based at Oxford Population Health, and a practising Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at Oxford Kidney Unit. He jointly leads the Renal Studies Group which he joined in 2010 as a Clinical Research Fellow and trained on landmark renal trials (SHARP, 3C and UKHARP3).

He is Chief Investigator of the EASi-KIDNEY^TM trial and the EMPA-KIDNEY trial which tested the effects of empagliflozin 10mg versus placebo on cardiorenal outcomes in 6609 people with chronic kidney disease with and without diabetes.

The trial has now entered a post-trial observational follow-up phase and is developing health economic analyses. The biobank of leftover biological samples is being analysed to better understand the mechanism of action and metabolic effects of sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors like empagliflozin.

He has participated on a number of clinical practice guideline working groups, including with the European Society of Cardiology, UK Kidney Association, and K/DIGO. He is also interested in trial methodology and chaired the UK Renal Trials Network from 2020-2024.

His epidemiological research aims to better understand the key determinants of kidney disease development and progression (and its associated complications) using observations from large blood-based prospective cohorts across a wide range of different populations.

He has a particular focus on adiposity and its related risk factors, and how these may interlink to also cause cardiovascular disease. He is also focusing on how novel urine biomarkers could better assess effects of treatments on the kidney and predict progression.

Key publications

Efficacy and safety of SGLT2 inhibitors with and without glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists: a SMART-C collaborative meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Apperloo EM. et al, (2024), Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 12, 545 - 557

Frailty, multimorbidity and polypharmacy: exploratory analyses of the effects of empagliflozin from the EMPA-KIDNEY trial.

Mayne KJ. et al, (2024), Clin J Am Soc Nephrol, 19, 1119 - 1129

Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes: A SMART-C Collaborative Meta-Analysis.

Patel SM. et al, (2024), Circulation, 149, 1789 - 1801

Empagliflozin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial.

RECOVERY Collaborative Group ., (2023), Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 11, 905 - 914

Efficacy and safety of LDL-lowering therapy among men and women: meta-analysis of individual data from 174,000 participants in 27 randomised trials.

Cholesterol Treatment Trialists' (CTT) Collaboration . et al, (2015), Lancet, 385, 1397 - 1405

Recent publications

ssessment of adverse effects attributed to statin therapy in product labels: a meta-analysis of double-blind randomised controlled trials.

Cholesterol Treatment Trialists' (CTT) Collaboration. Electronic address: ctt@ndph.ox.ac.uk . and Cholesterol Treatment Trialists' (CTT) Collaboration ., (2026), Lancet