Cardiovascular Sciences in Southampton has an international reputation for the use of innovative technologies to identify the processes contributing to cardiovascular (CV) disease and to manage risk of CV disease development or deterioration across the life course, from early development in fetal and infant life, through adolescence into adulthood.
Cardiovascular Sciences combines expertise in basic and clinical science with a strong focus on translational research in vascular and cardiac biomedicine, bringing together research leaders in engineering and technology, social and behavioural sciences, public health and allied health professions, from across the Faculty and wider University.
Our aims are to:
- elucidate the exposures which contribute to risk of CV disease, and link them to the adaptive responses which enable individuals to respond to later challenges in their lives;
- use novel imaging, data analysis and physiological monitoring methods to permit detailed measurements of CV structure and function simultaneously;
- undertake studies to investigate cell and molecular mechanisms underlying the control of cardiac development and (patho)physiology, regulation of peripheral vascular tone and endothelial function;
- establish risk monitoring using innovative biomarkers (including epigenetics) and to conduct proof of principle studies in our animal models to demonstrate the impact of early interventions in reducing CV risk and to inform personalized interventions and treatment therapies.
We have strong links with:
- UHSFT
- Southampton Centre for Biomedical Research (SCBR) through the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) funded Biomedical Research Units (BRUs) in Nutrition and Respiratory Medicine and shadow BRU in Cardiovascular Disease
- a state-of-the art clinical research facility for detailed cardiovascular assessment at the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility (WTCRF).
Our research strategy is to translate basic science into early-in-man clinical application and develop strategies for risk monitoring and intervention.
Major funders include UK Research Councils and charities (including the British Heart Foundation, Heart Research UK, Diabetes UK, British Skin Foundation, the Wellcome Trust), NIHR and industry.
Basic and clinical vascular research
Vascular biology and medicine
(
Geraldine Clough
,
Christopher Torrens
,
Lucy Green
,
Mark Hanson
,
Christopher Byrne
,
Philip Calder
)
This group studies the processes contributing to CV risk across the life-course. Using animal models alongside UK and international human cohorts, we have determined prenatal and early life exposures contributing to risk (e.g. diet, stress and activity), and have linked them to adaptive responses and epigenetic processes that affect individuals' responses to later life challenges. We are exploring both specific interventions - micronutrient supplementation and drug targets - and broader interventions to promote health literacy in young people (
LifeLab
).
Peripheral vascular disease and tissue health
(
Cliff Shearman
,
Geraldine Clough
,
Roxana Carare
,
Raj Mani
)
We are developing novel imaging and signal processing approaches for the detailed measurement of peripheral vascular structure and function in acute and chronic conditions and development of biomarkers for diagnosing the prognosis of vascular disease; the prevention of tissue breakdown and reduction of diabetic foot amputations; and improved chronic wound management and the interplay between infection and ischaemia/hypoxia in wound tissues.
Endothelial cell biology
(
Nicola Englyst
,
Philip Calder
,
Timothy Millar
,
Donna Davies
,
Eugene Healy
,
Jonathan West
)
Our ongoing research programme includes: endothelial cell activation in inflammatory microenvironments, recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells; the role of coagulation in cancer metastasis and the anticoagulant properties of endothelial cells in relation to disease-related stimuli and therapeutic options; control of angiogenesis using nanoparticle linked peptides; and flow modeling in complex vascular networks.
Basic and clinical cardiac research
Clinical cardiology
(
John Morgan
,
Nick Curzen
,
Joseph Vettukatil
,
Paul Roderick
,
Paul Little
)
The internationally-recognised Clinical Cardiology section encompasses a wide spectrum of subspecialties from paediatric cardiology and congenital heart defects through to adult cardiology and surgery, and is driven by clinicians in the clinical CV service in close collaboration with Primary Care and Population Sciences who provide epidemiological, statistical and health economic input.Key activities include remote patient management for heart failure and (REM-HF), automated scar imaging and quantification software to provide 3D reconstruction of the scar within the myocardial architecture (CHIRON), and a near patient test of individualised responses of patients undergoing coronary stent insertion (RIPCORD, CULPRIT and FAMOUS).
Normal/abnormal cardiac development
(
Ita O'Kelly
,
David Wilson
)
We are interested in understanding mechanisms that control normal cardiac development during the embryonic and fetal periods; we have established novel in vitro based models using human embryonic cardiac tissue that has allowed us to characterize molecular and cellular events during development. This is also informed by our work in other research themes that includes the investigation of ion channels (e.g. K2P channels) and the identification of genes associated with human developmental cardiac defects (e.g. hypoplastic left heart syndrome and left ventricular tract obstruction).
Theme images
Fig 1
CT angiogram showing atherosclerosis blocking the iliac arteries of a patient with diabetes © Cliff Shearman
Fig 2
Endothelial cells provide a base for coagulation and inflammatory cell recruitment via rapid release of pre-stored von Willebrand factor and surface expression of P-selectin. Weibel-Palade bodies (green), β-tubulin (red) and cell nuclei (blue). © Tim Millar
