Sir Mark graduated in Medicine in 1984 from the London Hospital Medical College and trained in Clinical Pharmacology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital (Barts) where he developed a research programme in molecular genetics of hypertension and clinical research. In 2009 he won the Lily Prize of the British Pharmacology Society. He is a Fellow of The Royal College of Physicians.

In 2000 Sir Mark successfully bid for £3.1m to create the Barts and The London Genome Centre at the Queen Mary University of London. Since 2008 he has directed the Barts National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit. In 2012 he become Co-Chair of NIHR Comprehensive Research Network Cardiovascular Sub-Speciality Group.