MRC/BHF Centre of Research Excellence in Advanced Cardiac Therapies (REACT) Studentships

Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death worldwide, of which coronary artery disease leading to heart attack and ultimately heart failure is the biggest contributor. There is no known cure for heart failure, other than organ transplantation which is compounded by limited donor hearts and a requirement for lifelong toxic drugs to prevent organ rejection. All current drug-based treatments only serve to assist the survived heart muscle and blood vessels after heart attack but do not reverse disease progression. Thus, there is an urgent unmet need for novel therapeutic approaches to regenerate the injured heart and to reverse established heart failure. Here we propose to establish a new MRC/BHF Centre of Research Excellence in Advanced Cardiac Therapies (REACT) to develop advanced therapies for heart attack and heart failure. We will bring together world leading scientists and clinicians from King's College London and the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, combined with other academic partners as well as biotech and pharmaceutical industry representatives to develop new medicines and to deliver them to the injured or failing heart. We will define patients for treatment based on current clinical guidelines. We will develop improved diagnostic measures to refine treatment groups across what is known to be a mixed population of heart attack and heart failure patients. The drugs will be made up of nucleic acids, such as modified RNA, as was used in COVID-19 vaccines. Together with delivery vehicles, we will ensure that they specifically target the heart in both models of disease and in patients, thereby maximising the impact of our therapies. Our approach will restore lost heart muscle, increase numbers of functioning blood vessels, reduce inflammation, and reduce tissue scarring to maintain or enhance heart function. By leveraging additional support, we will progress therapies to patient clinical trials within the lifetime of the Centre. We will develop delivery methods that are non-invasive, combined with cost-effective treatments to ensure that our therapies can be utilised in all primary health care systems, including those within developing countries. The Centre will widely disseminate its progress and key findings to the public and patients alike and is firmly committed to training, career development and the promotion of early career researchers. We will establish a fully inclusive and diverse research culture, all working towards the common goal of developing novel advanced therapies to treat heart attack and heart failure patients.