King's College London will lead a pioneering doctoral training programme designed to transform how scientists study and treat cardiovascular disease.
The four-year programme, titled Next-Generation Human Models of Cardiovascular Disease, will train doctoral researchers across disciplines including cardiovascular biology, bioengineering, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and delivered in partnership with Imperial College London, the programme will enable talented doctoral researchers to develop the interdisciplinary skills needed to tackle one of the world's biggest health challenges.
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, yet many treatments that appear promising in early research fail when tested in patients. One major challenge is that traditional experimental models do not always capture the full complexity of human biology. By combining expertise from both universities, the programme aims to accelerate the development of more accurate models of human cardiovascular disease and improve the success of future therapies.
This new doctoral programme reflects the kind of bold, interdisciplinary approach that is needed to tackle cardiovascular disease, one of the world's greatest health challenges. By bringing together expertise in biology, engineering and data science across King's and Imperial, we are creating an environment where the next generation of researchers can develop more accurate models of human disease. Ultimately, this has the potential to accelerate discoveries and pave the way for more effective treatments for patients in the future."
Professor Ajay Shah, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine
King's will provide its internationally recognised expertise in cardiovascular biology and human disease modelling. Imperial College London joins as a key partner, contributing world-leading expertise in bioengineering, including biomaterials, organ-on-chip technologies and computational modelling.
This is a really exciting opportunity for King's and for the wider cardiovascular research community. By partnering with Imperial College London we are bringing together complementary strengths in cardiovascular biology, bioengineering and data science to tackle one of the biggest challenges in medicine.
Dr Aleks Ivetic, Reader in Cardiovascular Biology and Programme Director
Dr Ivetic continued: "Our goal is to train a new generation of researchers who are comfortable working across disciplines - scientists who can combine experimental biology with engineering and artificial intelligence to build better models of human disease. We hope to attract students who are curious, creative and motivated to push the boundaries of how cardiovascular research is done."
Together, the two institutions will recruit and train 10 doctoral students each year, applications for the 2026/27 cohort of students are now open, more details on how to apply for a fully funded four-year PhD is available on our funding database.
