British Heart Foundation Programme
British Heart Foundation New Multidisciplinary PhD Programme funded - major success for Universities of Manchester, Bristol and Liverpool
Connecting Hearts And mINds (CHAIN): unravelling the heart-brain axis
The CHAIN consortium (Connecting HeArts and mINds) is a unique national training programme that will tackle one of the most urgent, under-recognised challenges in cardiovascular medicine: the bidirectional link between heart and brain diseases. It represents a £7.1M investment from the BHF and the participating universities (Manchester, Bristol and Liverpool) into an area of enormous medical importance, underpinning diseases that include vascular dementia, myocardial infarction (heart attack) and atrial fibrillation, amongst many others.
The Programme aligns perfectly with existing UoB strengths and the strategic ambition to solve key challenges with integrative solutions and multidisciplinary approaches. Professor Sarah George, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, said “I am absolutely delighted by the award of the Connecting Hearts And mINds (CHAIN): unravelling the heart–brain axis BHF PhD Programme. This achievement showcases the University’s outstanding interdisciplinary excellence in cardiovascular and neuroscience research. Importantly, it will allow us to continue nurturing the next generation of innovative researchers through a truly collaborative, cross‑disciplinary training environment, while addressing some of the most pressing health challenges, including stroke, vascular dementia and heart failure.”
Delivered collaboratively by the Universities of Manchester, Bristol and Liverpool, the new PhD Programme will train 40 of the UK’s most promising scientists to move beyond disciplinary boundaries and adopt integrated approaches to heart–brain health. Together, they will uncover the biological and societal drivers that link heart and brain diseases, develop new tools for early detection, create predictive digital models for personalised care, and design therapies that target shared pathways across both organ systems. This integrated approach reflects the growing need for preventative, system-level solutions as populations age and multimorbidity rises.
Recognising the need for integrative research linking heart and brain diseases, the programme is centred on the principles of multidisciplinarity. Students will work on ambitious cross-disciplinary projects spanning discovery bioscience, engineering, data science, imaging, epidemiology and behavioural science. Bringing these different perspectives together will enable new insights into complex disease processes and help drive innovative solutions to some of the biggest challenges in cardiovascular and neurological health.
Cohort-based training across all three universities, alongside strong industry partnerships and access to world-leading infrastructure, will provide students with a rich and collaborative research environment. Together, these opportunities will equip them with the skills, networks and experience needed to become the future leaders driving innovation in cardiovascular and neurological research, with real impact for patients and health systems alike.
The programme application was led by Dr Gina Galli (University of Manchester), Professor Deirdre Lane (University of Liverpool) and Professor Alastair Poole (University of Bristol), who will be Directors of the new programme. For Bristol, this sees a continuation of our BHF-funded PhD programme, training present and future generations of cardiovascular researchers. Bristol lead Professor Alastair Poole added “We are excited to have the opportunity to continue training the next generation of cardiovascular researchers, in collaboration with Universities of Manchester and Liverpool, funded by a major investment from the British Heart Foundation. Over the next 4 years we look forward to welcoming 40 students between our institutions who will join our programme to use cutting-edge approaches to address major clinical issues affecting how the cardiovascular system interacts with the nervous system, both major areas of research activity at the University of Bristol.”