Research excellence at the University of Glasgow

Research Excellence (round2) - University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow has received nearly £3 million over the next five years to establish a BHF Centre of Research Excellence in Vascular Science and Medicine led by new BHF professor Rhian Touyz. 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 Glasgow. Professor Touyz will work to understand heart and circulatory disease and its complications at all levels, from individual cells to people, and across different disciplines. Glasgow’s research focusses on blood vessel damage, caused by chronic conditions like obesity and diabetes, it is the root cause of heart and circulatory diseases such as heart failure. Researchers will use cutting-edge technology to study blood vessel damage, and ways to repair or treat them. They will try to predict damage or spot disease earlier, and look for new risk factors. They want to track disease progression to assess if treatments are working – moving towards an era of personalised medicine. Professor Touyz will work with Glasgow scientists including BHF Professor Andrew Baker and Regius Professor of Medicine Professor Anna Dominiczak, to make the Centre a success. They have unique data and tissue samples from clinical trials and populations, and state-of-the-art technologies to characterise blood vessel damage. They are experts in biomarkers of heart disease – ‘flags’ to show that disease is present. The Centre’s new initiatives will foster an environment of excellence for research and training. They will develop new training programmes for the next generation of translational heart researchers, run symposia and workshops, and offer international internships and exchanges. BHF funding will help the Glasgow researchers gain new insights into heart disease and new ways to predict, diagnose and treat it.