Blog
Covid-19 and Cardiovascular Health: Reflections and the Future
Titled ‘COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Health: Reflections and the Future’, the virtual conference was chaired by BHF’s Deputy Chair of Trustees, Professor Sir Kent Woods.
It was a privilege to share how our BHF team responded to the biggest challenge we have ever faced and how we played our part in helping millions of people affected by heart and circulatory diseases and supported flagship research into Covid-19.
Our Medical Director Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Associate Medical Director Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, and I were also delighted to be joined by Professors Barbara Casadei, Keith Channon, Marc Dweck, and Aroon Hingorani, as they discussed the impact of the virus on the cardiovascular system and patient care.
We were also joined by Professors Chris Brightling (PHOSP-COVID-19 Principal Investigator), Patrick Chinnery (Clinical Director, Medical Research Council), Nick Linker (National Clinical Director for Heart Disease, NHS England), Andrew Pollard (Professor of Paediatric Infection and Immunity, University of Oxford – Oxford Vaccine Group) and Cathie Sudlow OBE (Director of the BHF Data Science Centre) for a panel discussion on what the future looks like for cardiovascular health.
And finally, it was fantastic to be joined by our keynote speaker, Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England. He joined a closed session with our guests to reflect on the impact of the pandemic and share his observations from the past year. What I can share with you is how powerful it was to hear him offer thanks to the British Heart Foundation, our colleagues, supporters and volunteers as he said: “thank you to all of you for all you do – it’s really amazing.”
Looking to the future
As we approach our 60-year anniversary, it’s now more important than ever to share our insights and learnings to build a brighter future. And the Annual Conference reinforced a number of things for me personally.
Firstly, the excellence of the researchers we fund as a BHF. From basic research to clinical trials, our funding of global research leaders and the world’s best programmes is simply stellar.
Secondly, that now more than ever, collaboration between organisations and alliances is vital. It’s critical for the BHF to work in close partnership with other research organisations such as the British Cardiovascular Society and Health Data Research UK, as Professor Cathie Sudlow exemplified as she said; “It’s thanks to the vision and generosity of the British Heart Foundation that the BHF Data Science Centre was established, in partnership with Health Data Research UK, with the goal of improving the public’s cardiovascular health through improving access to and use of data at scale.”
And lastly, that the ambitions of our brilliant BHF family are undiminished. Our ambition to power our life saving work as a diverse and inclusive team only continues to grow. As we shared our BHF goals to protect funding for world class research and put people affected by heart and circulatory diseases at the heart of everything we do, it was impossible not to be impressed with the sheer scale of what we have achieved over the past year. Our BHF Chairholder at the University of Oxford Professor Keith Channon said it perfectly.
He said: “Together as a BHF family, we can respond quickly and powerfully to any major challenge. Together, we have a huge opportunity to learn more about cardiovascular disease and improve treatments for our patients.”