Above: Professor Vanessa Ferreira, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Oxford.
We are pleased to announce that we have partnered with the University of Oxford once again with a grant of nearly £400K. Our funding will create a Senior Research Fellowship position to carry out research in diagnosing and managing heart failure.
Professor Vanessa Ferreira* and her team, including Professor Stefan Piechnik* and Associate Professor Qiang Zhang*, have been developing a ‘landmark’ new technology called Virtual Native Enhancement (VNE), which paves way towards a fast, 10-minute comprehensive cardiac MRI scan that can evaluate not only the cardiac structure and function, but importantly, focal scarring in heart tissue, without the use of contrast injections.
Having a fast, radiation-free and contrast-free scan can allow a simpler procedure that can provide just as (or even more) comprehensive information, whilst at the same time being safer and more cost-effective. Although they have validated the VNE on patients with two cardiac conditions – hypertrophic cardiomyopathy* and chronic myocardial infarction* – the technology needs further development for other heart diseases. Our funding will support work on validating the VNE in patients with acute MI (Myocardial Infarction).
We wish the University the very best and look forward to hearing about the impact of this exciting work!