Dr. Thomas G. Pickering was a distinguished British physician and internationally renowned expert in clinical hypertension who served as a Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Born in 1940, he earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Cambridge in 1966, followed by his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford in 1970. Prior to his appointment at Columbia, Dr. Pickering spent 24 years conducting groundbreaking research on behavioral aspects of hypertension at Weill Medical College of Cornell University Medical Center. He established the Center for Cardiovascular Behavioral Health at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in 2003, cementing his legacy as a leader in cardiovascular medicine.
Dr. Pickering's seminal contributions to hypertension research fundamentally transformed clinical practice through his identification and naming of critical blood pressure phenomena. He coined the term white-coat hypertension to describe patients whose blood pressure elevates only in clinical settings but remains normal in daily life, challenging conventional diagnostic approaches. Later, he published the first editorial describing masked hypertension, the opposite phenomenon where blood pressure appears normal in clinics but is elevated outside medical settings. His discovery of bilateral renal artery stenosis causing flash pulmonary edema led to the eponymous Pickering Syndrome, providing crucial insights into hypertension pathophysiology. Dr. Pickering pioneered the use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring techniques, demonstrating that clinic measurements often contain systematic errors that compromise their predictive value for target organ damage.
The profound impact of Dr. Pickering's work extended beyond academia as he successfully advocated for national coverage of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for patients with white-coat hypertension through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. As President of the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, he shaped the field's research agenda and fostered interdisciplinary collaboration between cardiology and behavioral medicine. His leadership on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Task Force on Behavioral Medicine and the American Heart Association's Board of Directors cemented his influence on national cardiovascular health policy. Today, Columbia University's Hypertension Center continues to honor Dr. Pickering's legacy by advancing his vision of diagnosing and treating hypertension based on measurements outside the doctor's office, ensuring his pioneering approach continues to improve patient care worldwide.
