Heart Theme
The aim of the Heart Theme research programmes is to achieve translation from basic to clinical research. For example, our research focuses on vascular disease risk factors and the mechanisms that relate disease in the arterial wall to ‘downstream’ injury in the myocardium, quantification of the downstream injury. We are interested in the characterisation of plaques and biomarker responses. These projects will extend to the hyperacute clinical setting with the opening of the new Acute Vascular Imaging Centre (OxAVIC). There are also investigations into chronic myocardial ischaemia and in novel vascular disease risk factors and endothelial dysfunction in women with prior pre-eclampsia. This is in conjunction with the Women’s Theme. We hope to translates advances in molecular genetics in cardiovascular disease, and provide the basis for better diagnosis and treatment. We are also testing the utility of new technologies to provide genetic screening for congenital heart disease, sophisticated cardiovascular MR imaging to provide new phenotypic insights in Marfan syndrome, and in cardiomyopathy associated with inherited neuromuscular disease with the Brain Theme. We have set up a primary care-based screening programme to study valve disease progression (OxVALVE) and we are assessing various new treatments in aortic stenosis and in preventing atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardiac surgery.
The Heart Theme has three sub-themes:
