In 2008 University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UH Bristol) and the University of Bristol were awarded funding from the NHIR to set up a Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit (BRU).
The NIHR aims to improve the health and wealth of the nation by creating a health research system in which the NHS supports outstanding individuals, working in world class facilities, conducting leading edge research focused on the needs of patients and the public. The NIHR has established Biomedical Research Units to undertake translational clinical research in priority areas of high disease burden and clinical need to further to enhance its ability to deliver on this overall goal. Each NIHR Biomedical Research Unit is a partnership between an NHS Trust and a university, enabling health researchers and clinicians to work together.
Professor Gianni Angelini, British Heart Foundation Chair of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Bristol and Co-Director of the Bristol Cardiovascular BRU, said: “The award of the NIHR BRU has created a state-of-the-art facility inspiring collaboration between scientists and clinicians to translate new research insights into benefits for patients. We can now perform internationally competitive research and at the same time, train the next generation of cardiovascular scientists and clinicians.”
Dr Peter Wilde, Head of the Division of Specialised Services at UH Bristol and Co-Director of the Bristol Cardiovascular BRU, said: “The NIHR initiative to support Biomedical Research Unit partnerships is a fantastic way of developing research capability in the NHS for the benefit of all our patients.”
Here in Bristol, the Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, situated in the BHI, is conducting research into heart disease. Studies are currently been conducted in a broad range of areas such as heart disease affecting children, research into stem cell and platelet function as well as imaging.