Altitude Physiology Expeditions

Kenneth Baillie founded Apex and led the group’s first expedition. He initiated the International HAPE Database project in 2004. He is a consultant in Critical Care Medicine at the Royal Infirmary, and a Group Leader at the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh. His main research interest is using our new understanding of the genome to better understand complex disease states, particularly infectious diseases and hypoxia.

Click here to see the Baillie lab web page.
Click here to email jkb@altitude.org

Alistair Simpson is a co-founder of Apex and was the deputy leader of Apex 2. He has climbed several high altitude peaks, including a solo ascent of Mont Blanc. He served as the Medical Officer at Rothera, Antarctica, for the British Antarctic Survey. A keen cyclist, he is maintaining his interest in exercise physiology by undertaking research in exercise and body composition in Antarctica. 

Roger Thompson is a co-founder and trustee of Apex and was the leader of the Apex 2 expedition and deputy leader of the first Apex expedition. He is now a British Heart Foundation Intermediate Clinical Fellow and Honorary Consultant in Respiratory Medicine. Based at the University of Sheffield, he has ongoing research interests in hypoxia, inflammation and the pulmonary circulation.

Matthew Bates is a co-founder of Apex and coordinated one of the largest drug trials ever conducted at high altitude during the second Apex expedition. He is a Consultant Cardiologist with a specialist interest in electrophysiology at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesborough.  

Kitty is a Consultant Anaesthetist with an interest in Emergency and Trauma anaesthesia. During her training she gained experience in Aeromedical Pre-hospital medicine and completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Aeromedical transport and Retrieval. She holds the UIAA Diploma of Mountain Medicine and this year will be working as a volunteer mountain medic in Nepal for the spring trekking season. In her spare time she is usually found in the mountains hiking, climbing or skiing.

Claire is a Consultant in Accident and Emergency medicine with extensive experience of providing medical support to high altitude expeditions.

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Peter is a high altitude diver with a PhD in diving physiology from the University of Western Australia. He holds the record for extreme hypoxia in the altitude.org team, having once ridden an exercise bike for an hour in a decompression chamber at an equivalent altitude of 30,300ft!

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Andrew is currently completing his PhD, co-supervised by Dr Baillie. Andrew graduated from the University of Edinburgh with first-class honours in molecular biology in 2006, and medicine in 2009. After completing an academic medical foundation programme in 2011, he moved to Queensland, Australia, for one year. He returned to Edinburgh in 2012 to commence training in Anaesthesia, and started his PhD in August 2016.

Andrew Beck was a fourth year medical student at Edinburgh University also holding a BSc in Chemistry from the University of St Andrews when he was the leader of the APEX 3 expedition. He has been interested in the outdoors since an early age.

Roland Partridge is a co-founder of Apex and has organised numerous other expeditions, including a standard-setting circumnavigation of the Baltic Sea by bicycle relay. He now works as a Consultant Paediatric and Neonatal Surgeon, and is the co-founder of surgical simulation manufacturer EoSurgical. 

Birgit is a veteran of the British Antarctic Survey and many other extreme expeditions. She undertakes freelance translation work in German and English.

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Neil Mackenzie was a keen climber, a molecular biologist at the Roslin Institute, and an endless source of enthusiasm and positive thinking for everyone he met. He climbed and ski-toured widely in Scotland, the European Alps, the Canadian Rockies and Alaska. He was tragically killed in a climbing accident in the Canadian rockies in 2015.

Stewart Jackson was a medical student at the University of Edinburgh with a degree in neuroscience. Stewart has a longstanding interest in altitude physiology and medicine and has previously helped plan and perform altitude research in the Himalayas. He was President of the University of Edinburgh Wilderness Medicine Society, and led the 2009 expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro.

Sarah Lewis studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Sarah first got invovled with APEX as a volunteer on the APEX 5 expedition and worked as the volunteer co-ordinator for APEX 6. 

Sophie studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, and was the chair of the APEX charity. Her academic interests are in expedition medicine and global surgery. Having been inspired by the amazing team on APEX 5 to lead her own expedition, APEX 6 to Bolivia. Outside of studying, Sophie is a keen photographer and cook, and loves travelling the globe in search of the perfect shot, or some gorgeous food!

Suzanne studies medicine at the University of Edinburgh, and has taken over the role of Head of Communications and Volunteers for APEX 6. Her academic interests include emergency medicine. Outside of APEX, Suzanne enjoys playing hockey and staying active.

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