The new BHF Oxford Centre of Research Excellence (BHF Oxford CRE) has launched at the University of Oxford. Building on three previous Centre awards since 2008, the BHF Oxford CRE unites the University’s cross-disciplinary cardiovascular research community. From discovery science through to clinical and population health research, the BHF Oxford CRE will continue to advance cardiovascular sciences and benefit for patients.
With the new round of funding, the BHF Oxford CRE has three key research themes in areas where it sees clear potential to deliver world leading advances:
The Repair & Regeneration theme, led by Professor Paul Riley and co-led by Professor Nicola Smart, builds on the CRE’s world-leading research and facilities in regenerative medicine to identify new cellular mechanisms in tissue repair; targeting fibrosis, biomechanical sensing and signalling. A new focus will be on human model systems with multi-cellular capability, and therapeutic targets that reach widely across disease indications.
Professor Dame Molly Stevens and the BHF Oxford CRE’s co-Director, Professor Angela Russell lead the Drug Discovery & Delivery theme which integrates new physical sciences technologies to enable cardiovascular drug discovery and delivery. The theme focuses on metabolism and immune mechanisms as fertile new areas with rapid translational potential. The third theme is Big Data & Computational Science, which builds on the Centre’s capabilities in data analysis for population cardiovascular health, including a new focus on vascular dementia.
The BHF has committed £35m to supporting centres of research excellence awards to nine universities across the UK.