Leicester residents will be the first volunteers to take part in life saving research into cardiovascular disease, or CVD. The research will be carried out at a multimillion pound Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, or BRU, based at the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester.

Funding for the BRU has come from the National Institute for Health Research as part of its commitment to world-class research within the NHS. The funding has equipped the centre with brand new facilities dedicated solely to cardiovascular research including a laboratory, endocrinology suite and exercise testing facilities.

Leicester residents with a range of heart and vascular conditions will be asked if they want to take part in research at the BRU. After giving their permission, the participants will be allowing their clinical data to be stored anonymously at the centre, enabling researchers to carry out extensive and complex research into heart and vascular conditions. Patient data, collected as part of a project called BRICCS (Biomedical Research Informatics Centre for Cardiovascular Science), will be vital in paving the way for better understanding of heart conditions, their causes and best treatments.

Heart and circulatory disease is the biggest killer in the UK, causing over 1 in 3 deaths each year. The most common form of CVD is heart disease which causes around 126,000 deaths each year in the UK. As yet, the causes and risk factors of CVD have not been fully explored. The researchers at BRU will be undertaking research which will allow them to explore the various risk factors for cardiovascular conditions-such as the role of genetics-and develop improved methods for diagnosis and predicting patient outcomes.

Read the full story. (The article is under the heading 'Leicester Cardiovascular BRU July 2010')

More information and ways to get involved can be found at the University of Leicester BRU web page.