Cardiovascular

UK CARDIO-IMID Partnership

The UK CARDIO-IMID Partnership is an initiative that brings together experts in cardiovascular and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases to develop collaborative research projects.

Our vision is to act as an interdisciplinary national platform to advance experimental medicine studies and targeted therapeutic trials of cardiovascular disease in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, with the ultimate aim to improve patient care and outcomes.

The NIHR-BHF Cardiovascular Partnership is supporting the set-up and early development of the UK CARDIO-IMID Partnership, working closely with experts from over 20 research centres across the UK. We are an inclusive working group and welcome investigators with ideas for collaborative research efforts at the intersection between inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases.

Background

Cardiovascular (CV) disease is a major cause of increased mortality in patients with Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID). The CV manifestations of IMIDs vary (and overlap), comprising excess atherosclerosis and organ-specific myocardial/pericardial involvement. The focus of clinicians and researchers is to diagnose CV disease early and develop effective treatment strategies.

We have established a UK CARDIO-IMID Partnership, which consists of cardiovascular researchers and IMID centres. The objective of this national partnership is to develop an interdisciplinary investigative approach to expand our understanding of the mechanisms of cardiovascular disease in IMID, in order to address the unmet needs of people with IMIDs and improve patient outcomes.

Current Work

We are currently focusing on:

• harmonising protocols for assessment of patients using cardiac magnetic resonance
• setting up a cohort for a longitudinal, prospective, observational study which would serve as a resource for multiple studies conducted by our Partnership
• establishing a working group to identify non-imaging biomarkers, mechanisms of disease and biological pathways towards potential therapeutic targets

Participants

UK CARDIO-IMID Partnership coordinator: Professor Maya Buch – Manchester BRC / University of Manchester 

BRC / Hospital Trusts