Research facility

The van Geest grant will enable further interactions between scientists and clinicians in a dedicated cardiovascular research centre, where detailed studies of a patient’s protein and metabolite make-up will complement their clinical and demographic data, and in combination with genetic studies, lead to a systems approach to analysing cardiovascular disease.

This is also enabled by the investment in bioinformatic methodology to analyse this high-dimensional data. One of the central aims of the facility is to rapidly translate novel findings into the clinic. The eventual outcome would be improved patient care and management, with improved outcomes from a more personalised approach to therapeutics and cardiovascular devices, thus fulfilling one of the aims of the van Geest foundation which is to fund research that directly benefits patients.

With the investment in the proteomic laboratory, we will be able to extend the range of cardiovascular diseases studied, from the detection and prognosis of heart failure and coronary artery disease, to the natural history of heart valve disease, the mechanism of poorly understood forms of heart failure and to discover biomarkers that may predict sudden cardiac death or poor response to cardiovascular medication.