British Heart Foundation Accelerator
The University of Leeds is one of nine universities in the UK to receive funding under the British Heart Foundation’s Research Excellence Scheme in recognition of our internationally leading research focused on understanding the links between cardiovascular disease and the comorbidity of type 2 diabetes.
The funding will help the University in its mission to further develop a world class research environment in Leeds. It is an ambitious project that brings together a diverse community of researchers including fundamental, clinical and data scientists, to address the increasing problem of heart failure and how this is exacerbated by metabolic disease such as diabetes.
The award will allow researchers at the University of Leeds to:
- Define the changes that occur in key cells and organs that drive cardio metabolic disease.
- Gain new insights into how diabetes promotes heart failure and create targets for intervention through linking in cardiac performance, patient imaging and inter-organ communication biology.
- Use our expertise in epidemiology and data analytics to better identify patients with cardio metabolic disease and predict its progression.
- To nurture the next generation of research leaders in cardio metabolic disease.
Our research is composed of five individual themes which are integrated through a multi-disciplinary team to accelerate our understanding of pathobiology cardio metabolic disease.
Theme 1 – The heart
To link deep cardiac imaging with the molecular profiling of myocardium, skeletal muscle, endothelium, and blood cells to establish factors associated with adverse clinical outcomes to guide personalised risk assessment and novel therapeutic targets. Co-leads – Malenka Bissell and Sven Plein.
Theme 2 – Skeletal muscle and exercise
To determine the cellular pathophysiology driving exercise intolerance in people with cardio metabolic disease by integrating an exploration of inter-organ communication with detailed clinical phenotyping. Co-leads – Scott Bowen, Lee Roberts and Klaus Witte.
Theme 3 – The endothelium
To explore multi-directional interplay of endothelial with cardiac, skeletal muscle cells and platelets, to understand how these are dysregulated by T2DM, and uncover new opportunities to improve tissue perfusion, exercise performance and quality of life. Co-leads – Paul Meakin and Steve Wheatcroft.
Theme 4 – The blood
To explore the concept of blood platelets as pathogenic surveillance sentinels, whose proteome, metabolome, and function changes in response to the vascular environment of T2DM to drive accelerated cardio metabolic disease.
Co-leads – Amanda Unsworth and Cedric Duval
Theme 5 – Data science
To integrate data generated by the core themes, combining multiple phenotyping technologies which will enable us to explore the causal relationship of molecular mechanisms between diabetes and the progression of CHF or failure to respond to optimal therapy. Through these results we will work to elicit the most promising therapeutic targets.
Co-leads – Marlous Hall and Ric Cubbon
Contact us
Please send any enquiries regarding the BHF Accelerator to LICAMM-Comms@leeds.ac.uk