What is the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research Network?
Our multidisciplinary research network interdigitates scientists and clinicians from UEA Faculty of Science, Faculty of Medicine & Health, and the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital.
We work together to understand and tackle cardiovascular and metabolic disease, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke and vascular dementia. Major funders within the network include BBSRC, British Heart Foundation, NIHR Wellcome Trust and industrial partners.
Thematic research areas
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Vascular and stroke
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Stem cell and regenerative medicine
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Diabetes and metabolism
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Cardiac
Our mission
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Understand the rules of life of cells and tissues in the cardiovascular and metabolic cells and tissues
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Develop better therapies, diagnosis and clinical practice in cardiovascular and metabolic disease
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Develop new talent through postgraduate research, research fellowships and an excellent training environment
"Multidisciplinary working is essential for us to understand the complex physiology of our cardiovascular system, what goes wrong in disease, and how to predict, diagnose and treat disease. We are uniquely placed in close proximity on the Norwich Research Park to deliver this.”
Professor Sam Fountain
Network Director and Chair of Pharmacology
Fellowships and collaboration
The network is open to hosting UKRI and British Heart Foundation Basic and Clinical Fellowships. Contact Professor Sam Fountain to discuss how we can best support your application.
2024/2025 Seminar Series
Talk title: TBC
Professor Nicola Smart, University of Oxford
Date and Time: Thursday 17 October, 1-2pm
Venue: TBC
Host: Dr Linda Troeberg, UEA MED
Speaker bio: TBC
Hear from some of our researchers
Research Overview
Stephen has been interested in how adhesion molecules expressed by endothelial cells regulate angiogenesis for well over 20 years.
He is passionate about research and angiogenesis! The group he works with hope to guide the use and design of microbiota based therapies in order to maintain life-long vascular health.
After a self-confessed unconventional route to being a group leader, Stephen hopes that he brings unique and valuable experiences to their research.
My Story
“I was involved with early research investigating the role of integrins in angiogenesis. In the early days, we thought that one integrin in particular played a critical role in angiogenesis and that blocking it with drugs or antibodies would inhibit angiogenesis - that would be really useful in the context of trying to impede angiogenesis in cancers. To our surprise we saw an increased angiogenesis. This turned the field on its head and we are still trying to figure out exactly why this happens.
We are grateful for whatever funding comes our way, but it feels like there is never enough! We use the funding that we do get to understand more about the basic biological processes driving angiogenesis, and this helps us understand how normal blood vessels form, and what happens when it goes wrong."
Connecting Without Borders
Stephen hopes that the network will help to bring together different strands of researchers to make bigger advances.