About BHF
New Head of BHF Scotland appointed
Our new Head of BHF Scotland, David McColgan, took up the role yesterday.
David previously led our policy and public affairs teams in the devolved nations and brings a wealth of experience to the role.
David joined us in 2013 and has led a variety of hugely successful campaigns which have influenced change, including the adoption of a new heart disease strategy for Scotland, the move to an opt-out organ donation system and our award-winning Nation of Lifesavers campaign, to help ensure children in Scotland learn CPR before leaving secondary school.
On his appointment, he said: “I am hugely excited to take up this role at a time when our lifesaving work has never been more needed. Around 700,000 people are living with heart and circulatory diseases in Scotland, and they cause nearly 50 deaths here every day. That is why the work of our researchers is so important and why we urgently need the public’s support to fund the breakthroughs and treatments to keep hearts beating, so that more families can stay together for longer. We are so lucky here in Scotland to have some of the world’s leading scientists working alongside us and I cannot wait to get started.”
David will lead our work in Scotland in support of our charitable aims and objectives. This will include working with our research community, building new relationships to grow support for our lifesaving work, and working with the Scottish Government and healthcare partners to improve the prevention and treatment of heart and circulatory diseases across Scotland.
We are currently funding more than £50 million in research projects in ten universities across Scotland, including at our Centres of Research Excellence at the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Our Chief Executive, Dr Charmaine Griffiths, said: “We are absolutely delighted to appoint David as our Head of BHF Scotland. In his nine years at the BHF, he has championed our work and led many successful campaigns which have had a real impact on the lives of people affected by heart and circulatory diseases.
“We have made great progress since we were founded in 1961, so much so that research that once seemed like science fiction is now becoming reality. It’s a hugely exciting time us and I have no doubt David will continue to be a real asset to our work in Scotland.”