Mending broken hearts in Oxford
4 August, 2011 | Richard P. Grant |
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F1000 Member of the moment has to be Paul Riley. Not only has he recently published a stunning piece of research, in which a ‘Smart trick’ was used to kick-start adult heart epicardial cells into an embryonic programme such that they were able to produce fully functional cardiomyocytes, but he’s also been awarded a new type of funding.
The British Heart Foundation, who are trying to raise £50 million extra over the next 10 years to fund exactly this sort of regenerative research, have made Paul their first BHF Professor to be funded by the Mending Broken Hearts Appeal. The award is worth £1.5 million, and comes with a move to Oxford–a BHF Centre of Research Excellence–where Paul will take up the new post of BHF Professor of Regenerative Medicine.
He’s taking his group, currently down the road at UCL, with him, and will be moving in October (Read more). We wish him and his team all the very best for the future.
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