PRESS RELEASE 11th June 2018
The latest innovations in medical research will be showcased at Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust’s seventh annual heart and lung research open day on 3 July 2018.
The trust’s medical professionals, researchers, patients, their families and volunteers play a leading role on global research with recent research breakthroughs including:
- evidence that new cystic fibrosis drug Orkambi gives improved lung function and fewer side effects for patients
- discovery of a new gene linked to the rare lung condition primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) which can cause permanent lung damage in children
- confirmation that the revolutionary use of valves in the lungs of patients who suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an effective treatment.
Visitors will learn about research studies carried out at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, in which hundreds of patients and healthy volunteers participate each year and find out how this research leads to significant medical breakthroughs and the development of new treatments.
Attendees will be given the chance to see a practical demonstration of how an implantable lung valve works, and an opportunity to construct heart muscle structures from extendable ‘lazy’ tongs.
Visitors can even take part in a mock clinical trial, which involves sampling chocolate, and find out about some of the latest research through other interactive demonstrations, activities, stands and round-table discussions.
Jenny Rivers, associate director of research, said: “Research underpins our clinical work at the Trust. We are committed to finding and developing new treatments for heart and lung disease – for today’s patients and for future generations – and we are looking forward to sharing our latest work during what should be a fun and informative day.”
The event will take place from 11 am until 2.00 pm on Tuesday 3 July in the main reception and seminar rooms at Royal Brompton Hospital, Sydney Street, London SW3 6NP. There is no need to book.
More information about the Trust’s research can be found here.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Lucy Hunter
Communications officer
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust
Tel: 020 7352 8121 (ext.2237) Mobile : 07891 310 924
Email: l.hunter@rbht.nhs.uk
Follow us on Twitter: @RBandH
Notes to editors
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust is the UK’s largest specialist centre for the treatment of heart and lung disease. Working from two sites, Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, West London, and Harefield Hospital, near Uxbridge, the Trust has an international reputation for the expertise of its staff, high standard of care and research success. Experts at the Trust help patients from all age groups who have heart and lung problems and provide some of the most complex surgery and sophisticated treatments available anywhere in the world.
The Trust is the UK’s largest centre for the treatment of adult congenital heart disease and is the country’s leading provider of specialist respiratory care. Over the years the Trust has been responsible for major medical breakthroughs, such as the UK’s first combined heart and lung transplant. It established the UK’s first adult service for cystic fibrosis, which is now one of Europe’s biggest treatment centres for the condition, and has pioneered the use of primary angioplasty for the treatment of heart attacks. Today the Heart Attack Centre at Harefield has one of the fastest arrival-to-treatment times in the UK, a crucial factor in patients’ survival.
As a member of the Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC), in collaboration with Imperial College London, Imperial College Healthcare Trust and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, the Trust helps to drive innovation and improved care for over 1.1 million patients each year in North West London, by aligning the research, education and clinical services of the partner organisations. Visit Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust website for more information.