Research excellence at the University of Cambridge

Research Excellence (round2) - University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge has received nearly £3 million over the next five years to establish a new interdisciplinary Centre for Cardiovascular Research led by BHF Professor Nick Morrel. In 2008 the BHF began a £34 million investment strategy to support four top UK universities as BHF Centres of Research Excellence, aiming to secure the UK’s future as a world-leading force in heart research. Following the success of this initiative, the BHF has now awarded grants to two additional universities, to bring the number of BHF Centres of Research Excellence to six - one of these is the University of Cambridge. Professor Morrell will create a collaborative world-leading centre undertaking studies to understand both common and rare heart and circulatory diseases, and reveal new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat them. The Centre’s science will include innovative studies from across the research spectrum. They will look for new ways to prevent disease by understanding interactions between genes and the environment, and identify new biomarkers of disease. Chemists and physicists will work with lab and clinical scientists to develop new diagnostic approaches. They will develop new therapies for atherosclerosis, thrombosis and high blood pressure, by integrating scientists of different disciplines. Professor Morrell has already brought new treatments from the lab to the clinic and will work with many experts in Cambridge, including BHF Professors Martin Bennett, Ziad Mallat and John Danesh, as well as external experts, to make the Centre a success. They are committed to training the next generation of researchers, by establishing a multidisciplinary training programme. Researchers will engage with other world-leading centres to attract new technologies and perspectives, and several core facilities will be established, such as imaging and advanced microscopy. The Cambridge Centre aims to improve the understanding, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of heart and circulatory disease, and make a real difference to people in the future.