Heart research at Imperial receives boost after initial work funded by £50K gift helps secure £250K grant from British Heart Foundation.

The original donation from Dan’s Trust, a charitable foundation, was made to support research into Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS), an inherited heart condition that can cause sudden death in young, otherwise healthy people. Dan’s Trust was set up in memory of Daniel Bagshaw, a 27-year-old lawyer and cycling enthusiast from Lancashire who suffered a fatal cardiac arrest caused by SADS in 2011.

The gift from Dan’s Trust was used to support the work of Dr Kevin Leong, a clinical research fellow investigating the electrical features within the heart that make an individual susceptible to the rhythms that lead to sudden death. Dr Leong’s research forms part of a larger project led by Dr Amanda Varnava, a consultant cardiologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Drs Prapa Kanagaratnam and Fu Ng from the National Heart & Lung Institute.

The important advances made during the project’s first year – and the demonstrated potential for future breakthroughs – secured two more years of funding from the British Heart Foundation. This additional funding will enable the project’s completion.

Kelly J. Mills, Head of Development for the Faculty of Medicine, said: “The generous support of Dan’s Trust, and the research it enabled, was crucial in leveraging further funding for this important research. It is a wonderful example of how philanthropy can create new possibilities and open up new directions in research. Imperial is enormously grateful for the support that Dan’s Trust has offered.”