Medical Director's report

I stepped into the shoes of the eminent former Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation last winter, when Professor Sir Charles George left the BHF to become President of the British Medical Association.

The BHF has supported me throughout my career, in particular over my last ten years as the BHF Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cambridge University. I continue to spend one day a week with the research team in Cambridge and seeing patients with heart disease in my clinic at Addenbrookes Hospital as I feel it's vital for me to keep in touch with changes taking place in the research environment and the health service.

My research has focused on vascular biology; investigating what happens in the cells of the vessel wall when blood vessels go wrong, in particular when the wall becomes thickened with fatty plaques called atherosclerosis. In Cambridge, our laboratory studies have helped us develop a new imaging technique to identify these fatty deposits and predict which are likely to give rise to a heart attack or stroke. This imaging technique could be guiding patient care within five to ten years.

What I have learned at the bench and at the bedside is that breakthroughs do not happen often in heart research. Today's medical scientists are standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before. Each of our professors and each of the 1,200 projects the BHF currently funds, provide pieces of the giant jigsaw puzzle that is heart and circulatory disease. Research is cumulative, and eventually leads to better treatments, drugs and surgical techniques to help patients and save lives.

Supporting world-leading research

The BHF funds the majority of the cardiovascular research being carried out in the UK; research which furthers our understanding of the heart and circulation and which can be translated into the prevention and treatment of disease. This year we spent £49.1m on research.

The Charity currently funds the salaries of 28 professors and their support staff, each a key opinion-former and leader in his or her field with an international reputation. These are highly informed doctors and scientists at the top of their profession. This year we also awarded 237 new research grants in the form of fellowships, studentships, project grants and programme grants.

Like all medical research charities, we award research funds using a peer review process so that only the very best research is funded by the BHF. Once an award has been made, we review progress by evaluating written reports and carrying out regular site visits to examine the work and future research plans in detail.

Heart research is an internationally competitive discipline that demands world-leading results. This can only be achieved with first-class facilities in a stimulating environment. Through the BHF Cardiovascular Initiative we are bringing teams of researchers together in state-of-the-art laboratories. This year we funded cutting-edge research facilities in 11 centres, including provision of four research MRI scanners to Edinburgh, Oxford, Kings' and University College London at a cost of £11.1 million.

An outstanding example of how BHF research funds have helped revolutionise the way heart patients are treated across the world, is the work done by BHF Professor Rory Collins in Oxford. His team showed that a combination of two commonly used drugs can dramatically reduce the chances of death in the early hours after a heart attack. As a consequence of Rory Collins' research, thousands of patients' lives have been saved.

Supporting future generations

Heart disease can also affect the young. Tragically, some outwardly healthy young adults with 'silent' defects in genes that control heart rhythm may die suddenly and without warning. The BHF is supporting research that will identify the genetic defect in other family members so that they won't suffer the same fate.

There is still a long way to go before heart disease is defeated. Although fewer people are dying prematurely from coronary heart disease it still kills one in five men and one in six women in the UK, and over 2.6 million people are living with the debilitating symptoms of heart disease.

Babies are still being born with serious heart defects. Thankfully, because of advances in surgical techniques, most of them now survive to adulthood, but they face a lifetime of major or minor disability and many require life-long specialist care.

Investing in vital support and care

Therefore, as well as funding research, the BHF is providing vital support for heart patients across the UK, from specialist nurses and life-support training in the community to technicians in hospitals. We also produce essential information for health professionals, doctors, heart patients and members of the public. This year we spent £27.8m on education and care and, thanks to £4.3m in lottery grants, we have provided more life-saving defibrillators, heart failure nurses and cardiac rehabilitation schemes than ever before.

At the British Heart Foundation our aim is to play a leading role in the fight against disease of the heart and circulation so that it is no longer a major cause of disability and premature death. Consequently, we will strive to fund world leading research and drive innovations in education and care as a model for future public funding.

Professor Peter Weissberg MD FMedSci
Medical Director

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