At present there is an acute and long-term shortage of bright young scientists who will become the world-class academic cardiologists of tomorrow. Without these researchers in our teaching hospitals and universities, the UK is increasingly less likely to provide the best treatments for patients with diseases of the heart and circulation. In theory, the best treatments developed anywhere in the world should be taken up by hospitals in the UK. In reality, the application of new treatments varies widely. Hospitals engaged in research have to provide the ‘gold standard’ in approved treatment to fully measure any new treatments being tested; as a result patients in hospitals undertaking medical trials receive better treatment than patients in hospitals that don’t undertake research. Researchers funded by the BHF give a high quality boost to NHS services; at any one time BHF funding provides approximately 120 extra doctors in teaching hospitals. In brief, the best research promotes the best treatment for patients, and without new cardiovascular researchers to maintain the pace, treatments in the UK will increasingly lag behind the rest of the developed world. But perhaps of equal importance, the UK’s distinguished track record of pioneering research and innovation in cardiovascular disease – second only to the United States’ – will cease, which will mean fewer new treatments being created. The British Heart Foundation is the major funder of cardiovascular research in the UK, and we seek to support the whole infrastructure of research. By supporting the best UK universities and teaching hospitals the BHF has played a major role in the research and development of the current diagnosis and treatments for patients with heart disease. BHF Professors, Ball and Samani, for example, collected the DNA of 2,000 siblings with a family history of heart disease - and proved that chromosome 9 influences our predisposition to this illness. Another example is BHF Professor Rory Collins, who conducted the largest trial in the world of cholesterol-lowering therapy in people at increased risk of heart disease – and proved conclusively that statins save lives. Basic Research PhD Studentship – 3 years c. £100k •Purpose – to provide a foundation training in research to enable a graduate to proceed to a PhD degree at a university in the UK. Clinical Research Training Fellowship – 2 years c. £120k or 3 years c. £180k •Purpose – to provide a foundation in research training for medically qualified graduates in an established research institution in the UK