Dr Kim Van der Heiden wins the Promega UK Young Life Scientist Award for 2009

Dr Kim Van der Heiden, an Imperial College scientist, has won the prestigious Promega UK Young Life Scientist Award for 2009.

Dr Kim Van der Heiden, an Imperial College scientist, has won the prestigious Promega UK Young Life Scientist Award for 2009. This is a unique national competition for young researchers from all of the life sciences. Dr Van der Heiden presented her work entitled 'Shear stress and sulforaphane protect arteries from inflammation by activating the transcription factor Nrf2' along with 5 other finalists at the Young Life Scientists Symposium which was held in Bristol in May.

Dr Van der Heiden carried out her studies in Dr Paul Evans' laboratory which is based in the British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Sciences Unit within the National Heart and Lung Institute, Hammersmith Campus. The Unit studies atherosclerosis which is an inflammatory disease of arteries that can lead to heart attack and stroke. Previous studies had shown that atherosclerosis develops predominantly at branches and bends in the arterial tree and Dr. Evans's group has explored the molecular mechanisms that control its spatial distribution. The study presented by Dr. Van der Heiden revealed that a cellular protein called Nrf2 prevents inflammation in regions of arteries that are protected from atherosclerosis, but does not function in regions that are susceptible to disease. This study may also lead to the development of new therapies to treat or prevent atherosclerosis because it revealed that regions of arteries that are normally susceptible to disease can be protected from inflammation by pharmacological activation of Nrf2 using a compound called sulforaphane. Interestingly sulforaphane is derived from broccoli and other vegetables and so this work supports the widely held view that eating greens has beneficial effects on cardiovascular health.