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What do CRY Research Fellows do?
Within their role at cardiac screening events they:
Within their role at hospitals they:
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work with
Professor Sharma at the CRY
Inherited Cardiovascular Conditions clinics St George’s
Hospital, London and at Lewisham University Hospital. Prior to
2010 they were based at Kings College Hospital. At these fast
track clinics families can be seen within a few weeks of
referral after the sudden death of a young family member
Within their role as an academic they:
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publish abstracts and posters of CRY’s research
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publish articles in peer-reviewed journals
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present their research at international
conferences
CRY Research Fellows at the 2010 CRY
Parliamentary Reception with Dr Elijah Behr (far left) and Professor
Sanjay Sharma (far right)
How does CRY fund medical research into young sudden
cardiac death?
CRY funds
medical research through research grants. These grants cover a broad
spectrum from fast track screening to pathology after a death. The
grants also help to provide specialist knowledge of sports
cardiology. The field-gathered data in
CRY's screening
programme is analysed and reported in peer-reviewed journals,
providing essential information on the understanding of these
conditions.
Who does CRY screen?
In 2011, CRY screened over 8,500 people. Approximately 10% of these
were elite athletes and 90% were the
general population.
The elite
sports teams that CRY has screened include England Cricket (Seniors,
U18); England Netball (Senior and U21s); England Women’s Football;
GB Fencing; GB Judo; GB Snowboarding; GB Basketball (U18); GB
Biathlon; GB Canoeing; GB Taekwondo; GB Cycling; GB Swimming; GB
Diving; GB Rowing; GB Boxing; UK Athletics; Middlesex Cricket Club;
and the elite Kenyan Runners.
Rugby
continues to work with CRY to screen their players, including elite
squads in the RFU (England and Aviva
Premiership Seniors, U20, U18, U16); RFL teams; and the Rugby
Union Championship side, Worcester Warriors.
CRY has
also tested many leading football clubs including Chelsea, Fulham,
Blackburn Rovers, Brentford, Linfield (Ireland), Leeds United,
Middlesbrough, Queens Park Rangers and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
.gif) Background information on Professor Sanjay Sharma
CRY’s
screening research programme is overseen by Professor Sanjay Sharma
BSc (Hons), MD, FRCP (UK), FESC. Sanjay is Professor of Inherited
Cardiovascular Disease and Sport Cardiology at
St George's Hospital,
London; and Medical Director of the Virgin London Marathon.
In 2008
he was voted, as the only British Representative, onto the European
Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (EACPR)
Sports Cardiology Section Nucleus - an elite committee tackling the
complex issues of sports cardiology.
CRY’s Clinical Cardiology Research Programme
- Elite
Athletes
CRY was
first to identify the upper limits of wall thickness and cavity size
in British athletes. CRY are the first organisation in the world to
characterise cardiac dimensions in adolescent athletes – knowing how
to differentiate pathology (disease) from physiology (normal because
of exercise) is vital for diagnosis – and the first organisation to
characterise ECG changes in athletes in a document that is now the
blueprint for the European Society of Sport Cardiology.
Apart
from diagnostics and these physiological goals, CRY has also been
pivotal in identifying the prevalence of conditions such as
hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy (HCM) in athletes. This includes recently
identifying conditions such as long
QT syndrome as more common than HCM.
CRY is also the first organisation to look at cardiac
adaptation for Caribbean athletes, as they differ from Caucasian
athletes in the way they adapt to exercise.
CRY’s
findings are published in reputable, peer-reviewed journals and
CRY’s guidelines are now nationally and internationally recognised.
Articles in 2008 included a paper published in the British Medical
Journal, entitled
‘Preparticipation screening for cardiovascular abnormalities in
young competitive athletes’. This paper highlights the
proportion of young athletes with unsuspected heart disease who are
at increased risk from exercise-related sudden death.
Being
part of the CRY screening programme is not only about identifying
those at risk through employing the highest level of cardiac
expertise. It is about taking part in a national research programme
that endeavours to eliminate young sudden cardiac death from sport
and the lives of young people in general.
CRY’s
Clinical
Cardiology Research Programme
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General Population
CRY’s research team has taken the lead in the UK in
identifying the prevalence of cardiac conditions in young people in
the general population. Our findings are that screening young,
apparently healthy, individuals will identify minor cardiac
abnormalities in 1% of people and potentially serious disorders in
0.3% - i.e. about 1 in 300 young people. The false positive rate
for CRY’s screening programme is just over 3% - the lowest in any
screening programme.
One of the most important papers in recent years in
determining true incidence of young sudden cardiac death is this
article:
Papadakis, M., Sharma, S., Cox, S., Sheppard,
M.N., Panoulas, V.F. and Behr, E.R.
"The magnitude of sudden cardiac death in the young: a death
certificate-based review in England and Wales."
Europace 2009 Vol.11, No.10, p1353-1358 [Abstract]
For the first time CRY does not have to say “Evidence
suggests…. ” when talking about the scale of young sudden cardiac
death. Now, when the incidence of young sudden deaths is discussed,
it is informed by peer-reviewed evidence rather than 'expert
opinions' or 'anecdotal evidence'. It is known that these statistics
are still conservative, but this paper has at least established an
important baseline from which further research can be conducted.
This research was initiated by the Loveday family and
developed by CRY Research Fellows, Professor Sharma, Dr Mary
Sheppard and Dr Elijah Behr.
CRY’s
Clinical Cardiology Research Programme –
The Future
CRY will continue to progress research both in elite
athletes and the general population. Amongst CRY’s future aims is
the identification and precise prevalence of cardiac disorders
capable of causing sudden death in asymptomatic and apparently
healthy individuals; as well as accurately assessing the cost
implications of such a programme if it were implemented at national
level.
Where do Research Fellows go after working with CRY?
One of CRY’s aims is to improve the quality of
cardiology care of those affected by young sudden cardiac death and
this will be achieved by increasing the number of specialists in the
NHS with an understanding of how to best support families after the
impact of these tragedies. The purpose of training Research Fellows
in this specialist area is that they will take these skills to other
NHS hospitals throughout the UK.
What CRY has funded in the past and needs to fund in
the future
In 2005 CRY provided the first grants for a Research
Fellow with [then] Dr Sharma:
In 2007 the 2nd Research Fellowship Grant
was awarded to Dr Sharma:
In 2008 - 2010 CRY provided 4 further Research
Fellowship Grants to Dr Sharma:
In 2010 the 7th Research Fellow Grant was
awarded to Dr Elijah Behr:
In 2010 CRY provided 5 further Research Fellowship
Grants to Professor Sharma:
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