Research
European funders commit over 5 million euros for research into heart and circulatory diseases
Published:
3 March 2025
Published:
3 March 2025
Leading mid-career researchers in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK are uniting to drive innovations in detecting, diagnosing and treating heart and circulatory diseases. This is thanks to a pioneering partnership between us, the Dutch Heart Foundation (DHF), German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), and Lefoulon-Delalande Foundation (LDF).
Together, the four funders have awarded just over €5 million (approx. £4.2 million) to three international teams for the next four years. This is the sixth round of awards resulting from the partnership, and the first involving the LDF. The three new awards bring the total number of projects funded through the partnership to 19.
Two of the projects involve research teams in the UK and will together receive £900,000 funding from us. One project will investigate whether a new genetic therapy can repair issues with the heart’s electrical wiring system in heart failure. The other will study a rare inherited heart rhythm condition to reveal more about how to spot people at risk of its complications and improve treatment.
Future leaders
The funding will support researchers across the four European nations to collaborate and exchange their knowledge, expertise and resources to address some of the most pressing challenges in cardiovascular science and medicine. The awards will also accelerate the investigators' paths to becoming future leaders in their fields of research.
Professor Metin Avkiran, our Director of International Partnerships and Special Programmes, said: “We’re thrilled to be funding these ambitious projects in collaboration with our European neighbours, including for the first time in partnership with the Lefoulon-Delalande Foundation. The expansion of this partnership is testament to its success over the last six years, and will help to drive impact for patients by making the money donated by our generous supporters go further to power more lifesaving research.
“Our focus on funding mid-career researchers allows us to nurture impactful partnerships among emerging talent. By investing in the research leaders of tomorrow, we can cement collaborations that will outlast this funding to address the biggest challenges in cardiovascular disease research.”
The two new projects funded through the International Cardiovascular Research Partnership Awards that will receive funding from us are:
Normalising Ventricular Conduction in Heart Failure by Gene Therapies (CONDUCTION-GTx)
Principal investigators: Dr Alicia D’Souza, Imperial College London; Professor Dr Constanze Schmidt, University Hospital Heidelberg; Dr Gerard Boink, Amsterdam University Medical Center; Dr Jason Bayer, University of Bordeaux.
It’s estimated that over one million people in the UK have heart failure. In some people, the heart’s electrical wiring system can become damaged. This affects the heart’s ability to beat and pump blood around the body effectively. People with heart failure might be fitted with a pacemaker to try to regulate their heartbeat, but this doesn’t work for everyone.
In this study, researchers will investigate whether gene therapy could help to correct the underlying issue with the heart’s electrical wiring system. The team’s earlier work suggests that this is a safe and effective way to improve heart function. Now, they will study the gene therapy in mice and pigs with heart failure to see how it affects the behaviour of heart cells and improves their overall health.
Using computer models, the team will test how the gene therapies will work in heart failure patients. They will also study samples of human heart tissue to uncover more about what causes the heart’s electrical system to become faulty and how gene therapy could repair it. Ultimately, this work could lead to a new treatment that restores heart function and improves survival for people living with heart failure.
CRISTI: From CPVT patient RIsk Stratification to new Therapeutic Interventions
Principal investigators: Dr Luigi Venetucci, University of Manchester; Dr Julien Barc, The National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM); Dr Christian van Der Werf, Amsterdam University Medical Center.
Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a rare condition that affects the heart rhythm and can lead to sudden death. It’s caused when someone inherits a faulty gene from one of their parents. The gene has a crucial role in heart cells, regulating the signals that trigger the heart to beat. When it doesn’t work properly this can lead to an abnormal heart rhythm - in CPVT this is usually a very fast heart rhythm called ventricular tachycardia.
While a blood test can be used to diagnose the condition, it can’t predict who will develop an abnormal heart rhythm, and who might be at risk of a cardiac arrest. Drugs used to treat abnormal heart rhythms also do not always work and sometimes make patients feel more unwell.
In this study, researchers will investigate whether blood tests combined with detailed analysis of the heart rhythm could help to identify which patients with the faulty gene are at highest risk of developing an irregular heart rhythm. The team will also test new ways to treat CPVT in mice to find a treatment that improves the lives of people living with the condition and reduces their risk of sudden death.