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This month I met constituent Mark Miller, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, at a British Heart Foundation parliamentary reception. Mark is researching the detrimental effects of air pollution, in particular the effects of nanoparticles, on our cardiovascular health. Now recognised as a global health issue, Dr Miller’s work is at the forefront of air pollution research.

The British Heart Foundation is the leading funder of cardiovascular research in the UK, funding scientists to improve diagnosis and treatments for the 7 million people living in the UK with heart and circulatory disease.

In 2016-17 they awarded over £107m of research grants to researchers across the 4 nations of the UK, and this was a great opportunity to meet with sector leaders and BHF researchers working on areas such as diabetes, vascular dementia and the effects of air pollution on the heart.•