Development of Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance – Towards Clinical Translation
Our hearts need to convert fuels (sugars and fats) into energy to enable them to beat. But we know that in heart disease, this process becomes altered, and the heart muscle cannot use fuel correctly. Dr Damian Tyler, from the University of Oxford, is currently a BHF Intermediate Research Fellow who studies new ways to image the heart. He has now received a BHF Senior Basic Science Research Fellowship grant – these are awarded to outstanding scientists in UK research institutions who are likely to become leading heart researchers. The funding will help him build on the skills he has developed in his current grant and strive to build a world-leading research group. He will work closely with cardiovascular research colleagues in Oxford to develop a new imaging technique called ‘hyperpolarised magnetic resonance’ that allows doctors to see how the heart muscle is using energy. Dr Tyler believes it could provide a faster and safer way to observe and understand what is happening in the diseased heart, diagnose heart disease, and help to decide a course of treatment, without the need for radiation. First, he’ll develop and assess the technique in rats, before working towards transferring this exciting technology to people. This research could reveal a new way to image diseased hearts more accurately, which may also become a valuable research tool to test new treatments for heart disease.
Project details
| Grant amount | £1,050,123 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Fellowships |
| Application type | Senior Basic Science Research Fellowship |
| Start Date | 01 May 2014 |
| Duration | 5 years |
| Reference | FS/14/17/30634 |
| Status | Complete |
