Category Archives: 2020

It is with deep regret that we announce that Sir Maurice Hatter has sadly passed away following a long illness. Sir Maurice was a longstanding supporter of cardiovascular research and under his patronage, we were able to open the Hatter Cardiovascular Institute which proudly bears his name and has been running now for nearly 30 years.

Sir Maurice was an amazing man and a generous supporter of our work at the HCI, his dynamic personality will be greatly missed by so many who held him in the highest regard.

Together with Professor Yellon and Professor Lionel Opie, a second Hatter Cardiovascular Institute was opened at the University of Cape Town which enabled an enriching educational and research collaboration to grow.

All of us at the Hatter Cardiovascular Institute, as well as our many research partners around the world, owe him an immense debt of gratitude for his ongoing support over the last 30 years. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time.

Like everyone around the world, the Hatter Cardiovascular Institute (HCI) at UCL is navigating how best to work and stay engaged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though having to close our laboratories & clinical areas temporarily, and now working remotely, we have established bi-weekly team meetings to continue our research programmes…and importantly to keep in touch with one another while apart! The team has been great discovering new ways to work to continue collaborations and on-going educational programmes.

The Clinical Fellows, Nurses, and Cardiologists at the HCI have all been released from their research programmes to contribute their skills to the immense clinical needs of the NHS at this difficult time. We cannot thank them enough for their dedication and sacrifice in helping to look after the health of the nation.

Despite not being physically together, the team at the HCI are still active in their research pursuits and we hope to be back in our labs continuing our work as soon as possible.

The passing of Professor Lionel Opie last month was a huge loss to the cardiovascular research community. The Lancet has honoured his life and many achievements in its recent publication, read his obituary HERE.

We are pleased to announce Dr Arjun Ghosh has been awarded Board Certification (Level 3 accreditation) in Cardio-Oncology by the International Cardio-Oncology Society. Dr Ghosh is one of the first in the world to accomplish this and confirms his place as a leader in the field of Cardio-Oncology.

All of us at the Hatter Cardiovascular Institute congratulate Dr Ghosh on this achievement and are so fortunate to have him as part of our team.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Professor Lionel Opie, who together with Professor Derek Yellon, co-founded the Hatter Institute at the University of Cape Town. We have lost a great mentor and wonderful man, a highly respected clinician-scientist who dedicated his life to being at the heart of research.  We also worked very closely on our long standing educational programme “Cardiology, Diabetes & nephrology at the Limits” which is now in its 22nd year. To honour his many contributions to cardiovascular research we shall be having a named Lionel Opie lecture at this years’ meeting in April.

After 19 years, Dr Willem Remme has stepped down as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy. Upon reflection of the hundreds of papers which have crossed his desk, Dr Remme highlighted a selection of his top publications. (read editorial HERE)

The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute was honoured to be singled out as one of the most highly cited articles: NECROSTATIN, A POTENTIALLY CARDIOPROTECTIVE AGENT (DEREK YELLON, 200 CITES

Dr Remme commented on the many special publications of the journal and gave special attention to Prof Sean Davidson’s editorial: BUILDING A BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE OF CARDIOVASCULAR DRUGS AND THERAPY.

We wish to thank Dr Remme for all his hard work as Editor-in Chief of CDT and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute recently hosted a series of medical educational meetings to discuss new developments in the management of diabetes & cardiovascular disease. Audiences included researchers, primary care physicians and specialists clinicians. An area of interest was the new therapeutic agents including SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 analogues.

The 2 Horizon series of meetings addressed diabetes management from multi-disciplinary perspectives bringing together Nephrology, Cardiology and Diabetology for comprehensive discussions. One meeting was held specifically for an audience of Primary Care Physicians while a second was directed to Specialist Clinicians.

Recognising the importance of informing clinical trainees early in their careers, a newly created series of Hatter Institute Scientific Meetings was created to address this need. Therefor in a  third meeting, Trainees (SpR’s) in the specialities of Nephrology, Diabetes and Cardiology were invited to attend and found the day both beneficial to their area of interest but also for the ability to network with their colleagues in other disciplines who they might not otherwise meet, stimulating future multi-disciplinary teams.

Feedback from the above meetings was very positive and will help to guide further meetings later this year. We are grateful that those attending found these workshops so informative. We strive to create engaging programmes to disseminate the latest developments to benefit working practice and knowledge amongst the medical community.

Feedback reports from each of the 3 meetings can be found below:

HATTER HORIZON MEETING FEEDBACK REPORT_CLINICIAN_DEC19

HATTER HORIZON MEETING FEEDBACK REPORT_GP__DEC19

HATTER SCIENTIFIC MEETING FEEDBACK REPORT_TRAINEE_JAN20

Dates for upcoming Horizon and Hatter Scientific Workshops will be announced shortly.

The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute is at the forefront of cardio-oncology research. With awareness of the detrimental effects chemotherapy has on a patient’s heart, this rapidly evolving field of medicine aims to develop new methods to detect cardiovascular damage and subsequently provide protection during treatment.

We are pleased to congratulate one of our leading Cardio-Oncology Consultants, Dr Arjun Ghosh, on his recent accomplishments in leading the national and global education and training initiatives in this area. These include:

*Newly appointed member of the International Cardio-Oncology Society Training and Education Advisory Committee

*Lead –  British Society of Echocardiography guidelines in Cardio-Oncology

*Lead – UK Cardio-Oncology curriculum design

*Lead – Education and Training at the British Cardio-Oncology Society

*Lead – UK’s first and only national Cardio-Oncology Course which has now become a BCS course

*Organiser – Europe’s first and only Cardio-Oncology Course

*Member – ESC Council of Cardio-Oncology

Dr Ghosh recently visited the Tata Medical Centre in Kolkata, a tertiary cancer centre of excellence providing care to patients across India, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. With a cardio-oncology service in early development, Dr Ghosh was pleased for the opportunity to assist in the education and training to the team there as they work towards establishing a more permanent clinical service. Details of this visit can be seen HERE.

To promote continued progress in Cardio-Oncology, Dr Ghosh leads on clinical trials, participates in multidisciplinary committees and presents regularly across the UK and internationally.

UCL and the Wellington Hospital are recruiting to a Fellowship scheme 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 (£45,000 pa), 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 one of the links below:

UCL

JOBS.AC.UK

Closes: 9th February 2020

Start Date: October 2020