£30 million grant awarded to cardiomyopathy study

News 29 July 2022

 

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The CureHeart research project, which aims to find the world's first cures for inherited cardiomyopathies, has been announced as the winner of the Big Beat Challenge and will be awarded a £30 million research grant.

The British Heart Foundation has announced that the CureHeart research project has won their Big Beat Challenge and been awarded a grant of £30million. Cardiomyopathy UK is part of the the CureHeart team, led by Professor Hugh Watkins at the University of Oxford, that wants to find the world's first cures for inherited cardiomyopathies. 

What is The Big Beat Challenge?
The Big Beat Challenge was a global competition that saw teams of world-class scientists competing for a research award of up to £30 million. International, multi-disciplinary groups of researchers were asked to identify and propose a transformational solution to a significant problem in any heart or circulatory disease. As winners of this award, the CureHeart team have the opportunity to accelerate breakthroughs that could transform lives affected by cardiomyopathy across the globe. 

What is the aim of the Cureheart research project?
Out of 75 initial proposals, CureHeart was chosen as the winning project because it had the most chance of delivering a revolutionary advance in cardiovascular health and disease. The CureHeart team aim to develop a treatment that targets and silences the faulty genes responsible for cardiomyopathies. By combining a deep understanding of underlying genetic mechanisms with new technologies, the team aims to halt the progression of the damage caused by genetic heart muscle diseases, and even stop it before it starts. 

A significant step for people affected by cardiomyopathy
There are currently no cures for inherited cardiomyopathies. This research has the potential for transformative change for individuals and families across the world. Professor Hugh Watkins explains: "Our prospect will be a definitive cure that could restore health, that could actually prevent disease development in place of lifelong medicines, devices and surgeries".

Joel Rose, Chief Executive of Cardiomyopathy UK said " this is a great result for people with cardiomyopathy. Thank you to our research volunteers and everyone who filled out the survey that helped us shape this project and show why this research is so important for the lives of people affected by cardiomyopathy. We will continue to be part of the research team, working with Professor Watkins to make sure that the views and experiences of people with cardiomyopathy can continue to shape the project as it develops and the wider cardiomyopathy community are kept up to date with progress." 

Find out more about the CureHeart project and future updates here

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