British Heart Foundation award £500k funding to data science projects

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) and The Alan Turing Institute have awarded £550,000 worth of funding to a handful of research projects which aim to transform how we diagnose and treat heart and circulatory conditions.

The six selected projects include developing a risk predictor tool which will predict the risk of heart attacks and using machine learning to personalise the risk posed by factors such as smoking and high blood pressure to improve the accuracy of intervention and treatment.

The projects will form part of The Turing Institute’s health research programme, which aims to accelerate the scientific understanding of disease and improve health through data-driven innovation in AI and statistical science.

Metin Avkiran, associate medical director at the BHF, said: “The UK is blessed with many world-class heart and circulatory disease researchers, spanning a wide range of disciplines.

“But, as we enter the era of digital medicine, there’s a growing need to foster excellence in applying data science solutions to cardiovascular problems. At the BHF, we recognise the enormous potential of data science and want to create an environment where we can realise that potential.

“This funding is a major step towards using data science to make transformational improvements in preventing, detecting and treating heart attacks and strokes, as well as other heart and circulatory diseases.”

The six projects are:

• Mapping genetic traits of cardiovascular disease
• Physical activity and cardiovascular health
• Heart attack risk prediction and treatment management
• Personalised risk management of cardiovascular disease
• Blood related risk factors for cardiovascular disease
• Modelling the heart’s chemical signals

If you want to hear more about what the BHF is up to, chairman, Doug Gurr, is a keynote speaker for Digital Health Rewired in March 2019.

Gurr will be explaining how the medical research charity is now focusing investment in at scale data research in order to achieve a transformational breakthrough in the prediction and prevention of heart disease.

Register your place for Rewired today.