A University of Glasgow professor has received a grant worth more than £1 million over five years from the British Heart Foundation to develop novel therapies for patients with heart disease.

Prof Andrew Baker, Professor of Molecular Medicine at the British Heart Foundation Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, will use the money to help patients who undergo coronary artery bypass grafting or implantation of stents (angioplasty).

Occasionally, these procedures, which are designed to improve blood flow through narrowed arteries, by by-passing them or holding them open, can actually cause narrowing of the artery – called stenosis – due to thickening of the artery wall around the graft or stent.

Prof Baker and his team hope to combat this stenosis through novel gene therapies which can be applied during the initial operation, thereby preventing the need for any further corrective surgery.

Prof Baker said: “I am delighted to have received this funding which will continue world-leading research taking place here in Glasgow that we hope will eventually improve the lives of thousands patients with heart disease.

“Both coronary artery by-passes and stent implantations have the potential complication of blood vessel blockage following the procedure, and this limits the effectiveness of the therapy.

“Our goal is to develop novel therapies that prevent this process and can be delivered at the same time as the procedure is performed, thus providing lasting benefits to patients.

“In this context, we test specific genes and new molecules called microRNA and evaluate them in accepted models of disease in human tissue.”

The grant of £1,036,054 will also help fund three other members of staff – two post-doctoral researchers and a technical assistant.

For more information contact Stuart Forsyth in the University of Glasgow Media Relations Office on 0141 330 4831 or email s.forsyth@admin.gla.ac.uk

First published: 30 September 2009

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