New study enables identification of people at particular risk of rare, but serious, muscle-related side effect of statin therapy
24 July 2020
Researchers at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, in collaboration with other researchers, have published new findings that identify a combination of factors that put some patients at higher risk of myopathy.
About 5000 heart attack sufferers in England missed out on hospital treatment due to the pandemic
15 July 2020
The number of admissions to hospital with heart attacks fell by 35% by the end of March.
HCQ with antibiotics to treat COVID-19 could be dangerous for the heart
26 May 2020
DPAG researchers have collaborated on an international study that demonstrates a detailed mechanistic understanding of how the anti-malaria drug, Hydroxychloroquine, combined with antibiotics, can cause adverse cardiac side-effects in COVID-19 patients. This gives weight to US Federal advice against using this combined treatment.
DPAG and RDM researchers set to reveal the role of inflammatory cells in heart repair
29 April 2020
DPAG's Associate Professor Mathilda Mommersteeg and Professor Paul Riley, in collaboration with Professor Robin Choudhury from the Radcliffe Department of Medicine, will perform single cell analysis of inflammation during heart regeneration with a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Heart scarring run by Runx1 gene
27 April 2020
New collaborative research from the Mommersteeg Group and MRC WIMM researchers shows that a protein called Runx1 plays a significant role in the formation of the cardiac scar that forms after the heart is injured, a scar that is known to inhibit heart regeneration. In the zebrafish, a freshwater fish known to be able to fully regenerate its heart after damage, they show that the absence of Runx1 results in enhanced regeneration. This indicates a potential new therapeutic target for heart repair.
New human heart model set to boost future cardiac research and therapies
31 January 2020
DPAG's Dr Jakub Tomek and Professor Blanca Rodriguez's Computational Cardiovascular Science Team have developed a new computer model that recreates the electrical activity of the ventricles in a human heart. In doing so, they have uncovered and resolved theoretical inconsistencies that have been present in almost all models of the heart from the last 25 years and created a new human heart model that could enable more basic, translational and clinical research into a range of heart diseases and potentially accelerate the development of new therapies.
New target identified for repairing the heart after heart attack
30 January 2020
An immune cell is shown for the first time to be involved in creating the scar that repairs the heart after damage. The Riley Group study was funded by the British Heart Foundation and led by BHF CRE Intermediate Transition Research Fellow Dr Filipa Simões.
New heart disease drug to be made available to NHS patients through ground-breaking collaboration
14 January 2020
Up to 30,000 lives could be saved over the next decade thanks to a proposed pioneering government collaboration with pharmaceutical company Novartis to tackle heart disease – a leading cause of death in the UK.
BHF Associate Medical Director awarded MBE in New Year Honours list
9 January 2020
Professor Jeremy Pearson, the BHF’s longest serving Associate Medical Director, has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours list for services to medical research.
New target identified to help prevent dangerous heart rhythms after heart attack
8 January 2020
For many years, we have been using beta-blockers to neutralise a specific stress hormone and prevent dangerous heart rhythms following a heart attack. However, a new study led by Associate Professor Neil Herring and published in the European Heart Journal has uncovered evidence for an additional stress hormone acting as a key trigger for dangerous heart rhythms that is not currently targeted by these drugs.
BHF appoints Dr Charmaine Griffiths as new Chief Executive
13 November 2019
Dr Charmaine Griffiths will be the new Chief Executive of the BHF from February 2020.
Manuela Zaccolo honoured by the Royal Society of Biology
21 October 2019
Congratulations are in order to Professor Manuela Zaccolo on being elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.