We are uniting academic, healthcare, industry and public partners to develop innovative DNA and RNA-based therapies for patients with heart attack and heart failure.
No current treatment is able to regenerate the heart after a heart attack. Existing treatments based on small chemical molecules can maintain surviving heart muscle and sustain its function, but cannot undo the damage.
Our centre, REACT, has the ambition to develop first-in-human DNA and RNA-based medicines to rebuild injured hearts and reverse heart failure.
Our research
We aim to discover and target fundamental processes that drive heart failure and regulate cardiac regeneration. Our therapeutic products will leverage endogenous reparative processes to generate new heart muscle, promote vessel formation and resolve fibrosis. RNA and DNA treatments will be administered to the heart using innovative nanoformulations and viral vectors.
Who we are
The MRC/BHF Centre of Research Excellence in Advanced Cardiac Therapies was founded in 2025 with UK government funding from the Medical Research Council and charity funding from the British Heart Foundation.
We are a growing community of basic and clinical scientists across academia and industry. Our expertise includes internationally recognised research teams led by Professor Mauro Giacca at King's College London, Professor Andy Baker at the University of Edinburgh, and Professor Paul Riley at the University of Oxford.
