Nutrition Unit awarded grant for blood vessel research

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Some of the cutting-edge technology in the Hugh Sinclair unit in action

The Garfield Weston Foundation has awarded a sum of £100,000 to the Hugh Sinclair Nutrition Unit in the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences. The Nutrition Unit has a world class reputation for research into the links between diet and the risk of chronic degenerative diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease.

Since the Unit was founded in 1995, it has grown from 3 to over 45 members and secured research funding of over £3 million last year. Recently, a dedicated Vascular Reactivity Suite has been established in the Nutrition Unit. This specialised unit will be used to determine the flexibility and stiffness of volunteers' blood vessels (vascular reactivity). These measures are now recognised as important risk markers for cardiovascular disease development.

This new award, secured by a team led by Dr Julie Lovegrove, will be used to purchase specialised equipment for the non-invasive determination of vascular reactivity and blood pressure.