The BSH Heart Failure Fellowship

Our highly valued and competitive award that aims to encourage and support early career research to benefit the heart failure community

The BSH Heart Failure Fellowship is intended to support and inspire new talented researchers, dedicated to improving the lives of people with heart failure and underpin our vision to make heart failure a national priority. Previous winners have gone on to achieve higher degrees, subsequent awards, accolades, and further funding grants. 

How it works

  • The award will cover the salary of a research fellow up to a maximum of £65,000 per annum  for 2 years full-time (pro-rated for part-time), awarded directly from BSH to the recognised institute of higher education hosting the researcher.

    Associated administration costs will not be covered by the BSH.

    The proposed research programme should be related to heart failure broadly, with an emphasis on clinical relevance.  

  • The application should describe a proposed research programme that will last 2 years and lead to the potential award of a higher degree, usually an MSc, MD or PhD.

    Applications should be accompanied by a CV plus a covering letter from the supervisor and institution. 

    There is 1 award available. It is open to medical graduates (for those with a medical degree or qualification) and non-medical graduates (for any healthcare graduate with no limitation as to healthcare profession).

    Applicants must be UK residents, and the applicant and their supervisor must be BSH members. 

    Please direct applications to isabella.mcleod@bsh.org.uk by 26th February 2026

  • These fellowships are supported by an educational grant from Abbott, and we would like to thank them for their contribution.

  • The full application pack, which includes further information, is available here

Apply Now

Meet the Current Fellows

Elton Luo

“I qualified from Edinburgh Medical School in 2015. I am currently a cardiology registrar training in Hull with an interest in heart failure and cardiac devices. Under the guidance of Professor Andrew Clark and Dr. Joe Cuthbert, I will be researching on the challenges of heart failure as a co-morbidity. My main work will investigate the prevalence of undetected heart failure that were masked by loop diuretics in the community”

Joanna Bilak

“I am currently appointed as a Clinical Research Fellow in Cardiac Imaging at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Centre, University of Leicester. Having graduated with distinction in primary medical qualification in 2014, I embarked on clinical training across the South West and Thames Valley deaneries.

I am in the second year of doctoral studies (PhD), focusing on innovative lifestyle interventions for the treatment and prevention of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Recently, I secured a project grant from the BHF which together with the BSH fellowship award has enabled me to set up the AMEND Preserved trial: a multiethnic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial investigating the efficacy of a low-calorie meal replacement plan versus standard care in enhancing exercise capacity and alleviating symptoms in patients living with obesity and HFpEF”

Matthew Sadler

“I am a Cardiology Specialist Trainee and Research Fellow working at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. My main areas of interest include heat failure, inflammatory heart disease and cardiac imaging.

Under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Bromage and Professor Theresa McDonagh, and supported by the British Society of Heart Failure, my research objective is to explore Clonal Haematopoiesis, an emerging cardiovascular risk factor, and its correlation with ventricular remodeling following myocardial infarction”

These fellowships are supported by an educational grant from Abbott, and we would like to thank them for their contribution.