Research Excellence (round 3)

A new research centre in the UK will bring together biologists, data scientists, and clinicians to tackle vascular disease—the underlying cause of most heart attacks and strokes. Vascular disease, which includes conditions like atherosclerosis and high blood pressure, remains the world’s leading cause of death. Current treatments often target symptoms rather than root causes, and many patients are diagnosed too late for effective intervention. This centre aims to close that gap by combining expertise in population science, functional genomics, and cardiovascular metabolism to uncover the fundamental biological pathways that drive blood vessel damage. If successful, the centre could identify new drug targets, develop earlier diagnostic tests, and design prevention strategies tailored to individual risk profiles. The researchers will also run experimental medicine studies to rapidly test promising discoveries in patients, shortening the typical decade-long pipeline from lab to clinic. Beyond immediate treatments, the centre will train the next generation of cardiovascular scientists, ensuring a sustained pipeline of expertise. While much of the work is fundamental science—exploring how genes, metabolism, and environment interact in blood vessels—past discoveries in these areas have already led to statins and blood pressure medications that save millions of lives each year.