Professor Shoumo Bhattacharya
BHF Chair of Cardiovascular
Medicine
University of Oxford
BHF Centre of Research Excellence
Professor Shoumo Bhattacharya and his team
are investigating the importance of genes and environmental factors
in congenital heart disease (CHD) and
heart failure.
More than 4,600 babies are born each year with CHD. There are many types - the heart's vessels
or valves may not form properly or there could be holes between the
chambers of the heart.
Heart failure can result after damage
to the heart muscle – such as after a heart
attack – and around 700,000 people are living with heart
failure in the UK.
Hunting for crucial genes
In most cases, CHD develops because something has gone wrong
during the crucial stage in foetal heart development - between six
and twelve weeks after conception.
Some heart conditions in babies are due to faulty genes or
chromosomal abnormalities. Professor Bhattacharya's team are
identifying which genes are critical for the heart to develop
normally.
Many of these genes are also important for maintaining heart
function in the adult - defects in them can lead to heart failure,
particularly if the heart has been stressed.
The Oxford team is using genetic techniques and state-of the art
imaging technology to study how alterations in these genes affect
the structure of the heart and lead to these conditions.
With colleagues at Oxford, the researchers are also developing
new genetic technology that may enable us to screen for CHD.
This work is boosted by the new BHF-funded Centre for Cardiovascular
Target Discovery at Oxford.
Identifying environmental factors
Professor Bhattacharya's team are also investigating how
environmental factors and gene variations act together to influence
the development of CHD and heart failure.
In particular, they are studying how the mother's diet affects
the chances of CHD in the baby. They are also investigating how
stress (such as high blood pressure) interacts with gene variations
to cause heart failure.
Understanding how these gene–environment combinations affect
heart development and function may lead to new ways of preventing
these conditions.
Further information
Read more about how our achievements in congenital heart disease
research and heart failure
research are improving life for those affected.