The BHF 4-year PhD programme aims to train the next generation of researchers to develop innovative approaches for preventing cardiovascular diseases.

Preventing cardiovascular diseases before they develop is one of the most effective ways to improve health. However, doing this requires new approaches that combine insights from biology, population health and data science.

This PhD programme will equip a new generation of cross-disciplinary researchers to work at the intersection of three frontiers:

Population health – analysing large-scale health data from diverse populations to understand disease risk and prevention
Systems biology – studying the biological processes underlying disease across multiple levels, from cells to whole organisms
Artificial intelligence and data science – developing computational methods to integrate and interpret complex biomedical data.

The programme brings together leading scientists from the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Imperial College London and Oxford, working in partnership with our academic or industry partners, including EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Sanger Institute, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Genomics Ltd, Owlstone Medical, ThermoFischer Scientific and Flagship Pioneering.

The programme is designed to prepare students to work in collaborative, interdisciplinary environments, recognising that many of the most important advances in disease prevention occur where different scientific fields meet.

A key aim of the programme is also to advance research that benefits diverse and previously under-studied populations, helping to generate new knowledge that can reduce inequalities in cardiovascular health.

By combining interdisciplinary training with real-world collaboration, the programme seeks to equip students with the expertise and networks needed to become leaders in cardiovascular disease prevention research.