Discipline: Clinical Sciences
We are the home of clinical and experimental medical research at Surrey and the nucleus of the growing body of medical research at the University. We aim to provide a central connecting point for researchers, clinical academics and partnering NHS trusts.
Our research ranges from basic to translational science, including first use of molecules in humans (Phase I trials) all the way through to real-world evidence studies using routinely collected data and extending to clinical practice guidelines, and patient and public engagement.
Discover our research
Cardiovascular Sciences
The multidisciplinary research in the Section of Cardiovascular Sciences encompasses a wide range of overarching disciplines and expertise, including Pharmacology, Epigenetics, Drug development and Physiology.
Clinical Medicine
The multidisciplinary research in the Section of Clinical Medicine drives the development of early detection and innovative interventions to prevent disease and improve the care of patients.
Oncology
The Section of Oncology is home to the Surrey Cancer Research Institute (SCRI). One focus is viral engineering for cancer vaccine development, the role of the microbiome in cancer and to be at the forefront of testing and developing novel technologies to investigate the tumour immune microenvironment, fundamental to developing cancer immunotherapies in the future.
Statistical Multi-Omics
The Section of Statistical Multi-Omics focuses on the dissection of the genetic architecture and multiple omics data layers for complex human and animal characteristics and their relations to symbiotic microbiota. The researchers develop novel statistical methods for multi-phenotype analysis, CNV detection, sequencing studies and multi-omics data.
Surrey Health Economics Centre
The Surrey Health Economics Centre (SHEC) supports applied research in health, medicine and social care, working closely with the Surrey Clinical Trials Unit. The Centre leads on health economics for the NIHR Research Design Service South-East and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
Surrey Clinical Research Facility
The Surrey Clinical Research Facility (CRF) is a core human research resource recognised as a centre of excellence for the delivery of clinical trials and studies involving participants.
Surrey Clinical Trials Unit
The synergy between these functions is further enhanced by the co-location in the building of Surrey Clinical Trials Unit (CTU), a fully registered academic CTU with the experience, expertise and infrastructure to develop, organise and manage high quality, multi-centre, randomised controlled trials.
Surrey Clinical Academic Network
The Surrey Clinical Academic Network (SCAN) is a recently founded initiative to bring together researchers, academics and clinicians from academia and healthcare in the region.
Head of Discipline
Professor Christian Heiss
Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Head of Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, NHS Consultant Interventional Angiology
Biography
Prof. Dr. Christian Heiss has a joined appointment by The University of Surrey and Surry and Sussex NHS Healthcare Trust as a Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine. He is the Head of the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine. He is an internationally recognized expert in diagnostic, interventional, and experimental cardiovascular medicine. His research interests include basic mechanisms of vascular homeostasis and human interventions for improvement of cardiovascular health and healthy aging. His clinical work focuses on the prevention and endovascular treatment of complex multi-level atherosclerosis in particular in patients with peripheral artery disease.
Professor Heiss has previously headed the Vascular Medicine program at the Department of Cardiology, Pulmonology, and Vascular Medicine of the University of Düsseldorf, in Germany. He received training in basic cardiovascular research, clinical cardiology, and vascular medicine. After completing Medical School and dissertation at Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, he did a post-doctoral research fellowship in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Düsseldorf and an American Heart Association research fellowship in Molecular Cardiology at the University of California San Francisco. He was also an affiliated faculty member at the Nutrition Department of the University of California Davis. He then returned to the University of Düsseldorf as a clinical consultant and headed a translational research group. He received the prestigious Eden’s Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Research of the University of Düsseldorf for his work on endothelial dysfunction and adaptation in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis.
He has published almost 200 manuscripts in international peer reviewed journals (PUBMED) and serves on the board of the European Society of Vascular Medicine, UEMS Division of Vascular Medicine, and the advisory board of the German Vascular Medicine Society. He is also the treasurer of the European Society of Cardiology WG Aorta and Peripheral Vascular Diseases and president-elect of the Royal Society of Medicine's Vascular, Lipid and Metabolic Medicine Section. He has obtained research funding from the German Research Council, ESRC, MRC, the European Union, as well as industry and charity and has coordinated multi-center collaborative projects such the FLAVIOLA project funded by the European Union investigating the effects of dietary flavanols on human cardiovascular health.