Scientists at the University of Nottingham are part of a new national consortium to tackle inequalities in cardiovascular disease (CVD), being funded with a £50 million investment from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
As part of the consortium, the university has partnered with King's College London, Lambeth Council and Boots.
CVD contributes to a quarter of all deaths in the UK (26%), with more than 170,000 deaths annually, but does not affect everyone equally. Higher risk groups include ethnic minority communities and people living in deprived communities.
The NIHR Cardiovascular Disease Inequalities Challenge Consortium, in partnership with the British Heart Foundation, will focus on tackling inequalities in these higher risk groups. It also seeks to address inequalities in CVD outcomes between women and men.
This award gives us the opportunity to test innovative community based approaches ensuring they improve access rather than widen inequalities. Combined with the clinical and public health capability within community pharmacy, these tools can help us transform how cardiovascular risk is identified and managed, delivering earlier intervention and better outcomes for patients."
Professor Nadeem Qureshi, Clinical Professor in the University of Nottingham's School of Medicine said: "Primary care has long delivered established cardiovascular checks, but we know these services still don't reach everyone who needs them most. This consortium gives us the chance to develop more sustainable, community‑grounded approaches that extend beyond traditional models of care. By working with local partners to design solutions that reflect real‑world needs and overcome barriers to access, we can create long‑lasting improvements in early detection of high blood pressure and raised cholesterol for underserved populations."
The University of Nottingham joins other leading universities who have successfully applied to become part of the consortium. Together they will generate evidence and innovative solutions that deliver improved detection and monitoring of undiagnosed or poorly managed high blood pressure (hypertension) and high levels of bad cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) to save thousands of lives and reduce inequalities.
Each university will collaborate with other organisations around the UK including charities, social enterprise organisations, local councils, NHS Trusts and industry, to ensure system-wide change can be delivered. Researchers at Nottingham will be working closely with collaborators at the King's College London, Lambeth Council and Boots.
The consortium will also have a major focus on developing research capacity to help shift the dial on CVD. They will work together to develop a programme of career development opportunities to inspire, develop and support the next generation of researchers.
The research projects will begin in autumn 2026. The consortium will build relationships with charities, the life sciences industry and patient groups with relevant expertise to deliver a plan that will have solutions to tackle health inequalities in the UK.
The success of the consortium's health outcomes objectives will be enabled by research activities such as leveraging wearables and other digital health technologies, and innovative public health messaging and education, including supporting sustained behaviour change.
Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Chief Executive Officer of the NIHR said: "Cardiovascular disease causes 170,000 deaths annually in the UK, with a large long-term disease burden on the NHS. But it can be preventable with the right early intervention. This investment from the NIHR is one of the most ambitious attempts to tackle the root cause of inequalities of one the biggest killers.
"Now in our 20th year, the NIHR continues to drive life-changing research that matters. From earlier diagnosis and prevention in the community, to better treatments and improved quality of care, NIHR is funding and delivering research that tackles the health and care needs of the nation."
Member universities have been selected to span the UK, ensuring the consortium's activities will benefit populations including communities in rural areas and coastal communities, as well as in urban-deprived populations.
The consortium also includes the University of Glasgow, the University of Leeds, the University of Surrey, Swansea University, the University of Birmingham, the University of Ulster, Imperial College London and the University of Bristol.
