Major investment at King's for heart research
07 Apr 2008
King’s has been granted the highest award of £9 million in a £34 million investment by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) for cardiovascular research in the UK. The award will build upon recent investment by the BHF, and help develop a centre for cutting edge research and training.
The awards were given out to 4 UK institutions after a national competition, and will establish Centres of Excellence over a period of six years.
The new BHF Centre of Research Excellence at King's to be led by Professor Ajay Shah, BHF Professor of Cardiology at King’s, will bring together a unique range of scientists and clinicians who aim to develop new methods for early diagnosis of heart disease and new drugs and stem-cell based methods for treatment and prevention. In particular they will focus on the diseases which cause heart failure, lack of blood flow to the heart, and narrowing and hardening of the arteries.
Professor Ajay Shah, Director of the Centre comments: ‘This major investment will catalyse substantial multidisciplinary interaction with outstanding non-cardiovascular specialists in the College, and will place King’s at the top of this field in UK cardiovascular research. It will also allow us to establish innovative training initiatives for both clinical and non-clinical scientists at all levels.
‘King’s is already a leading institution for cardiovascular research and the investment in this new centre will attract the brightest new scientists to contribute to research and as a result offer real patient benefit and new treatments for conditions such as heart failure and ischaemic heart disease, and new diagnostic techniques and biomarkers based on imaging and proteomics’.
Research Centre
Leading experts in heart imaging, stem cell research, molecular science and muscle cell biology will combine their skills and join forces with specialists in physics, computing and engineering to open up exciting avenues for research. They aim to generate new blood vessel cells from stem cells to transform heart bypass operations, uncover the causes of diseases of the heart muscle and adapt non-radiating imaging techniques to develop safer, better-targeted treatments for heart patients.
Scientists and clinicians in the Centre will strive to translate cutting-edge science into patient benefit as quickly as possible. This 'bench-to-bedside' approach is one of King's great strengths and the BHF award has led to a new partnership with two Medical Research Council units to speed up development and testing of new medicines.
The Centre will act as a beacon to attract, train and retain the best young scientists. To achieve this, a range of training programmes will be established for scientists at different stages of their careers. This will nurture talent for the future and help the UK become a world leader in heart research and treatment.
Professor Malcolm Irving, Director of the Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics commented: ‘The BHF Centre of Research Excellence award will allow researchers in the Randall to apply biophysical and imaging techniques to help advance understanding, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease.
'To achieve these long-term goals, we will also help to train a new generation of cardiovascular researchers whose expertise crosses the traditional boundaries between physical science, biology and the clinic. This is an exciting opportunity to open up new ways to tackle a major health problem'.
Notes to editors
1. The awards
The funding has been split between four major higher education institutions in the UK. King’s College London has been awarded £9 million, Imperial College London (£8.9 million), Oxford University (£8.4 million) and the University of Edinburgh (£7.6 million).
2. King’s College London
King’s College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher 2007) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King’s has 19,700 students from more than 140 countries, and 5,400 employees. King’s has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. The College is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings and has an annual income of approximately £400 million. An investment of £500 million has been made in the redevelopment of its estate.
King’s has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, social sciences, the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres - more than any other university.
3. The British Heart Foundation (BHF)
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is the nation’s heart charity, dedicated to saving lives through pioneering research, patient care, campaigning for change and by providing vital information. But we urgently need help. We rely on donations of time and money to continue our life-saving work. Because together we can beat heart disease.
For more information, please visit
bhf.org.uk
Further information
Kate Moore, Public Relations Officer (Health Schools)
Public Relations Department
Email:
kate.moore@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 0207 848 4334