# British Heart Foundation aims to fund over £500 million in research

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/10/20/british-heart-foundation-aims-to-fund-over-500m-in-research/
- Published: 2015-10-20T17:16:03+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The British Heart Foundation has launched its new research strategy with the aim
of funding over half a billion pounds of cardiovascular research over the next five
years.**

Currently more than seven million people in the UK are living with heart and circulatory
disease and it is responsible for more than a quarter of all deaths. Last year the
BHF funded over half of all cardiovascular research taking place in universities
and hospitals across the UK.

The [charity’s strategy](http://bhf.org.uk/researchstrategy) takes six approaches
to funding research, including:

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• investing in people – funding the most talented people at all career stages and
seeking to attract outstanding researchers from around the world.

• funding all types of research into cardiovascular disease, including laboratory
studies, clinical studies and population studies.

• supporting research collaborations across borders and disciplines, and joining
forces with other funders to support more comprehensive research programmes.

It will also help women to stay in research. The review behind the strategy highlighted
the underrepresentation of women in senior cardiovascular research roles.

## Grant scheme

For the first time BHF will fund healthcare professionals, such as nurses, by establishing
a **dedicated grant scheme**. This research is aimed at improved the quality of 
care for people with cardiovascular disease.

There is no information yet on when the grant scheme will open and who will be eligible,
but the information when available will be published in the charity’s [What We Fund](https://www.bhf.org.uk/research/information-for-researchers/what-we-fund)
section.

Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said:

> “Our new research strategy outlines how over half a billion pounds will be spent
> over the next five years but progress will only continue with support from the
> public, the sustained financial input from the Government and close collaboration
> between all medical research funders.”

 

_Image: [Heart health](http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-167796287.html) by Ekaterina
Garyuk on Shutterstock.com_

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