Science
BHF Professor Barbara Casadei receives prestigious Lucian Award for outstanding research
Professor Barbara Casadei, a BHF Professor at the BHF Centre of Research Excellence, University of Oxford, has received the 2022 Louis and Artur Lucian Award in recognition of her pioneering research into atrial fibrillation (AF).
The award, which honours outstanding current research in the field of circulatory diseases, was announced by McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Professor Casadei is a BHF Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and an Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. After graduating in Medicine at the University of Pavia in Italy, she moved to the University of Oxford in 1989 and has worked there ever since.
She has been a BHF Professor since 2012 and was elected to the Fellowship of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences in 2013. She was also the President of the European Society of Cardiology from 2018 to 2020.
The main focus of Professor Casadei’s research is on improving our understanding of atrial fibrillation (AF), an abnormal heart rhythm condition that affects more than 1.5 million people in the UK.
This includes looking into why people with AF are much more likely to have a stroke and researching the genetic and heart surgery-related causes of AF.
So far, her research has led to identifying key processes behind AF, including the part played by nitric oxide, an important signalling molecule in the heart. This has opened the possibility that new drugs could be developed to treat AF.
Her work has also put potential AF treatments to the test in clinical trials, ensuring that doctors have as much information as possible when deciding how best to treat patients. The Lucian Award is recognition of this exceptional research career.
Professor Casadei said: “I feel incredibly fortunate to be the recipient of the 2022 Lucian Award. I would like to dedicate it to my trainees, graduate students, and the British Heart Foundation community for their relentless support of cardiovascular research in the UK. We’ll continue to do all we can to make you proud. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: “As one of our chairholders, the BHF are delighted and proud that Professor Casadei is the recipient of this year's Lucian award. This award is well-deserved recognition of her pioneering research into atrial fibrillation, which has revealed new mechanisms that may ultimately lead to better prevention and treatment of this common arrhythmia.”