Uncategorized – Page 2 – Bristol Heart Institute

First use of ROB2 in Cochrane Review of Exercise Interventions for CHD

Posted on March 20, 2021April 6, 2021 by Rachel Skerry

Graham Stuart and Guido Pieles collaborated with Craig Williams at the University of Exeter to publish a Cochrane Review, which gathered evidence for the effectiveness of physical activity interventions for people with congenital heart disease.

The Review compared three types of interventions from 15 trials, including programmes designed to increase physical activity, aerobic fitness and health-related quality of life. It found some evidence for increased physical fitness and physical activity, although there are no data yet to suggest this results in fewer hospital visits.

Read the Review in the Cochrane Library

Graham says:

Exercise used to be discouraged in patients with CHD. This was poor advice and led to an increase in cardiovascular and psychosocial morbidity.

Our Cochrane Review has shown that there is a need for further research to demonstrate why exercise benefits disordered cardiovascular physiology and to establish whether the multiple theoretical benefits of exercise training can translate into improved clinical outcomes.

All authors of Cochrane systematic reviews are now expected to use the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool (ROB2) to assess the risk of bias in any randomized controlled trials they identify, to help people understand the trustworthiness of the findings. This was the first Cochrane Review to use ROB2 methodology.

Read the Cochrane editorial on ROB2

This post first appeared in the March 2021 BHI Newsletter

BHF PhD programme funding renewed

Posted on March 15, 2021March 15, 2021 by Rachel Skerry

BHI Deputy Director Alastair Poole explains the impact for our PhD in Integrative Cardiovascular Sciences.

In December 2020, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) announced new funding for its flagship four-year PhD programmes at 12 universities, aimed at nurturing the next generation of cardiovascular research leaders.

At the University of Bristol, we have been running the popular PhD programme in Integrative Cardiovascular Sciences since 2017, with tuition fees and research costs fully-funded by the BHF.

Understanding the biology and medicine of the cardiovascular system now requires approaches that cross-bridge disciplines, with our current cohort of students working across fundamental bioscience, clinical science and population health.

In this renewal, we aim to build on this successful strategy, introducing new disciplinary strands, supervisors and training in digital health, data analytics, coding and bioengineering. This aligns to the BHF strategy in aiming to prevent disease, identify and manage risk factors, through large scale genomics, data science, AI and multiparameter monitoring of environmental and medical measurements using novel personal and environmental devices. Bioengineering is now seen as an important component of regenerative medicine, and capitalizing on our broad base of expertise in Bristol, we have incorporated several new supervisors into this element. These will provide additional depth and breadth to the training for our students and further opportunities for innovative cardiovascular discovery.

When the funding was announced, Professor Metin Avkiran, the BHF’s Associate Medical Director, said:

“Today’s PhD students are tomorrow’s leaders in cardiovascular research. At this difficult time, it is more important than ever to maintain that pipeline of scientific talent and discovery towards future advances in the prevention, detection and treatment of heart and circulatory diseases.”

We look forward to welcoming our newest BHF PhD students in 2021.

PhD student Ffion Jones talks about what she enjoys about the programme:

This post first appeared in the March 2021 BHI Newsletter

The future may be on hold, but it has not been cancelled

Posted on March 14, 2021May 28, 2021 by Rachel Skerry

BHI Director Gianni Angelini reflects on a turbulent year.

The COVID-19 pandemic made 2020 a year like no other.

It caused major disruption to our cardiovascular research and teaching, which is continuing into 2021. Clinical translation research has virtually stopped, and basic science work has been significantly curtailed by the limited access to laboratories.

Charities, which are the backbone funders of our work, are experiencing unprecedented difficulties and this translates to reduced grant awards. However, the renewal award of our BHF-funded PhD programme in Integrative Cardiovasular Science is excellent news.

And, at the same time, the use of virtual platforms has transformed our work and opened avenues which were unthinkable a year ago. So, despite the gloom and doom, the pandemic is giving us a unique opportunity to regroup and reflect on what we did in the past, and what we can do better in the future.

These are the things that have not changed:

Our determination to continue to stand out as the leading academic cardiovascular centre in the UK, and amongst the foremost worldwide.
Our ability to turn innovations into benefit for adult and paediatric patients, and the health system.
Our creation of an environment where clinicians, basic scientists and clinical research methodologists can thrive, attract the most talented individuals and produce world-leading research.
Our resolve to facilitate a smooth and timely transition to the next generation of cardiovascular clinicians and researchers.

This last point is possibly the most relevant for somebody heading towards the twilight of his career! We have an obligation to nurture and mentor our future research leaders by encouraging them to build the confidence to lead. We must pay more attention to our early- and mid-career researchers and encourage them to play a major role at the heart of our activities. They are the next generation who will guarantee our continued success.

The future is still there for you to grab: it has not been cancelled.

This post first appeared in the March 2021 BHI Newsletter