Capital professors' big-hearted cash bid

Professors Andy Baker and David Newby, based in Edinburgh, are two of 18 world-leading professors in the UK who are taking on a challenge of their choice to fight back against heart and circulatory disease.

They both hope to cycle 500km over the course of the month.

Money raised by the professors, whose work is funded by the British Heart Foundation, will go towards funding around 1000 research projects across the UK, to better understand how to prevent and diagnose heart and circulatory disease.

The BHF awards professorships to individuals delivering outstanding cardiovascular research, operating at the highest calibre to deliver breakthroughs that will benefit the seven million people living with heart and circulatory disease in the UK and the millions affected throughout the world.

Professor Baker was awarded this title in 2011 and is currently studying injury, repair and regeneration in the vascular system.

Professor Newby was awarded the title of a BHF Professor in 2009 and is currently studying diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

Professor Baker said: “The BHF has supported us throughout our careers and now we want to do our part to help win the fight against heart disease. I hope the research our teams are delivering will transform the lives of millions of people across the UK. But without the generosity of thousands of people who fundraise for the BHF, we would not be able to continue our work.”

Professor Newby added: “That’s why we are joining the charity’s legion of fundraisers this month and cycling as much as possible over the month.

“By sponsoring us or by taking on a similar challenge for the BHF, you will be helping us achieve our goals of ending the devastation caused by heart disease.”

Sarah Miller, BHF fundraising manager for Edinburgh, said: “We rely entirely on the generosity of our supporters to keep research projects like those of our two professors going and without the expertise and dedication of our researchers; we won’t be able to beat heart disease for good.”

For more than 50 years, BHF has pioneered research that has transformed the lives of people living with heart and circulatory conditions.

Its work has been central to the discoveries of vital treatments that are changing the fight against heart disease, but many people continue to need the charity’s help and funding.