Author Archives: sara

The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute congratulates Dr Maryna Basalay on being awarded a UCL CRDC Fast Track Grant in the recent call.  This was achieved against strong opposition and judged by a panel of peers.

Dr Basalay’s project ‘SGLT1 & SGLT2 inhibition – their potential roles in protecting the heart’ will investigate the hypothesis that the beneficial effects of SGLT2 inhibitors are mediated via the autonomic nervous system, representing a vital link connecting the heart with other organs, and thus providing important protection in the setting of ischaemia for both the heart and the brain.

The award of £37,199.09 will support Dr Basalay to continue her research in this emerging area of neuroprotection science over the next year with the aim of producing strong pilot data to enable a further application to an external funder for a larger, more strategic award.

The CRDC Fast Track scheme is a collaboration between the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre and the UCLH Charity.

Many congratulations Maryna!

After a postponement of nearly 2 years due to Covid-19, Professors Derek Yellon and Malcolm Walker were pleased to again host The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute Biennial Workshop on Cardioprotection, marking its 11^th occasion. Held on 28th & 29th May at Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge, the meeting brought together leading international experts in both basic and clinical science to discuss research strategy and direction. Historically, the focus has been on cardioprotection, however this meeting saw an expansion to include neuroprotection, cardio-renal protection and cardio-oncology, new areas of focus for The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute. The meeting sparked active and provoking debate on research direction and cultivated exciting new collaborations and ideas.

A meeting report on the meeting will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Basic Research in Cardiology.

The 2022 Edition of Ranking of Top 1000 Scientists in the field of Medicine has just been released by Research.com and we are pleased to announce Prof Derek Yellon has ranked #693 in the world and #78 in the UK.

This list of leading scholars is created annually to highlight the influential research contributions made by those academics at the forefront of medicine. These rankings represent h-index, publications, and citations based on data on scientific contributions since 2014 and involved a detailed examination of 166,880 researchers’ profiles from Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Graph. For the discipline of Medicine, over 65,743 profiles were examined and scientists from over 1,558 institutions and affiliations were analysed.

The full ranking for the 2022 list of top scientists in medicine can be found here.

Upon further investigation of the results for Medicine by institution, University College London ranks 7th overall globally and is the top institution within the UK.

The full ranking for the 2022 list of top universities in medicine can be found here.

Together, these rankings highlight the extraordinary quality of research done both within The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute, led by Prof Yellon, as well as across Medicine at UCL. Such recognition builds on support which enables our important research to continue and crucially, to improve patient outcomes. Many congratulations to Prof Yellon and his team.

This week, ten years ago, the Lancet published an editorial titled ‘Offline: Why (some) medical conferences make sense.’ In this article, Richard Horton discussed the realities of many medical conferences where the educational deliverables were dilute and vague.

Set to attend the ‘Cardiology and Diabetes at the Limits’ meeting in Cape Town he expected more of the same, however was pleasantly surprised by what he found. He remarked on the unique format of the meeting, the usual fare of bland presentations was  instead replaced by state of the art summaries and interpretations of new finding and trends across cardiology and diabetes.

This approach was novel as it not only presented new medical information but also sought to expose and exploit shared boundaries and opportunities between these two specialities.  With the audience small and specific, this was a new and refreshing approach to medical meetings which allowed meaningful debate and discussion.  Importantly, the focus has always been on education, while supported by industry sponsorship, no advertising or trade exhibitions are present, the focus in only on the meeting, a welcomed approach.

Originally started by Prof Derek Yellon (UCL) and Prof Lionel Opie (University of Cape Town) as a meeting to foster an exchange of science and medicine between Africa and Europe, these meetings have continued to evolve and continue strong a decade later. Now inclusive of renal medicine, a natural complement, ‘Cardiology, Diabetes & Nephrology at the Limits’ meetings are hosted annually in London, UK with further development to also now hosting meetings in Brazil and Canada, and expanding to Japan in 2023. With a presence on 4 continents now, these meetings are stronger than ever and interest continues to grow.

The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute is proud to be part of such an authentic and practical approach to medical education. Looking ahead to the next decade we are excited think about all that we will accomplish.

We are pleased to announce Dr Pelin Golforoush, a post-doctoral researcher at The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute, has recently been appointed to two scientific committees to support young people in cardiovascular science.

The first, The British Atherosclerosis Society (BAS) Young Scientist Community, is a group of cardiovascular research scientists in their early career who are actively engaged in the BAS. This committee is works to bring early-stage researchers together by offering a vibrant and supportive network, boosting their future career in cardiovascular science through scientific communication, career development and communal activities.

As part of the BAS, the EAS Young Fellows programme is the Society’s flagship educational and networking activity, where our over two years, the brightest young members from across Europe gain a broad understanding of atherosclerosis, its many aspects and contributing factors. The participants come together to present and discuss, to challenge and question, and to deepen their learning through interaction with faculty and fellow participants.

Many congratulations to Dr Golforoush on her membership to these Committees.

The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute, UCL has an ongoing interest in providing educational training to the SpR community. With a past focus on SGLT2i/GLP1a, we are now launching a new iteration of wider reaching educational training in the format of MDT-style Case Report Grand Rounds.

These meetings will occur initially twice in the coming year, continuing to target SpR’s in the fields of Cardiovascular, Renal, and Endocrine medicine, also now extending this to include SpR’s in Primary Care who have an interest in these 3 areas. In this new approach, SpR’s from across the UK will be encouraged to submit case studies which they feel are interesting, challenging, and relevant to the 3 specialties which will then be assessed by a joint panel of Consultants and SpR’s who will select those for presentation at the meeting. The goal is to stimulate discussion and problem-solving within multi-disciplinary working.

A hybrid of face-to-face and online attendance possible, participants can actively engage in the discussion and debate around the case studies. These meetings by nature will create a cohort of better educated SpR’s, and eventually Consultants, who will be able to holistically understand and address their patients’ needs.

The first meeting of 2022 will be held on Friday the 17th June from 11:00–14:00 at The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute, UCL with a virtual option also available. In addition to registering for the meeting, attendees are invited to submit a Case Report relating to their interests and in which they have found themselves slightly out of their comfort zone. We intend to select 5-6 of the most interesting case reports for discussion on the day. Please note submitting a case report is not mandatory but encouraged.

To register: https://ucl.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcrdequqTkjG9GuphkdRue7xmTzNrV4fZcQ

To submit a case study: https://form.jotform.com/220543268234048

SpR Case Study Grand Round Flyer

The UCLH Cardio-Oncology Service has recently been recognised by the International Cardio-Oncology Society as a Gold Centre of Excellence. This is the highest designation possible and is an acknowledgement of the dedication and hard work put in by the team to develop and expand the service. Further, the committee was impressed with the quality improvement projects initiated across UCLH in this emerging area and saw the work to be a guiding example for other healthcare organisations to follow.

Members of the Hatter Cardiovascular Institute – Professor Malcolm Walker, Professor Derek Yellon, Dr Arjun Ghosh, Dr Daniel Chen and nurse Alison Macklin – are all integral parts of this UCLH Cardio-Oncology team and we congratulate them on this distinguished award. We are proud of the research they undertake as part of the HCI which will continue to advance therapies in this important area.

The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute has begun 2022 with an incredible 11 new grant awards!

The awards were announced this week and include 3 Project Grants (British Heart Foundation and Rosetrees Trust), 6 Research Posts (1 BHF Clinical Fellowship, 1 BHF Studentship, 3 Wellington-UCL  PhD Clinical Fellowships and 1 UCLH-Charity Post-Doctoral Fellowship) and 2 UCL Global Innovation Fund awards. The funding will continue to develop and progress work across all our research areas focussing on protecting the heart & brain from injury.

Funding received from the British Heart Foundation and Rosetrees Trust builds on a strong history of support from these organisations and thus, acknowledges our continued research advancements and we are grateful for their lasting partnership.

The Wellington-UCL Fellowship Programme continues to attract some of the brightest clinical academics from across the UK to both the Hatter Cardiovascular Institute and UCL as a whole. We look forward to welcoming the new Fellows to our dynamic team and supporting them in developing their research careers.

This is a fantastic start to the new year for the team at the Hatter Cardiovascular Institute, well done for all of their hard work.

We are proud to announce that Professor Derek Yellon has again been named in the 2021 Web of Science annual report of highly cited researchers from across the world.

This annual report identifies the world’s most influential researchers, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science.

Compiled from 21 research fields and across multiple disciplines, fewer than 6,700 (0.1%) of the world’s researchers were awarded with this distinction in 2021.

Continuing to have such recognition highlights the ongoing dedication and hard work of Professor Yellon and his entire research team at the Hatter Cardiovascular Institute.

The report and full list of 2021 recipients can be seen here:

The 2021 Wellington Clinical Fellowship scheme is now open for applications.

UCL and the Wellington Hospital are partners in a long-standing programme in which Fellows study for a PhD in the UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science while working at the UK’s largest private hospital providing specialist complex care.

Fellows register part-time at UCL and the Wellington pays their salary, the annual fees which will include a budget for consumables and activities. In return the Fellows are employed directly by the Hospital, working the equivalent of 30 hours per week.

Clinically the Fellows will be based at the Wellington Hospital in St. John’s Wood, London while the academic work will be based within the Institute of Cardiovascular Science, UCL.

We welcome all applicants who are medically qualified, GMC registered and have MRCP. The scheme is open only to UK/EEA nationals due to funding restrictions.

To apply, please visit the UCL website here.

Closes: 5th December 2021