In 1967, following the death of a young patient after a long heart operation, cardiac surgeon Mr David Watson launched an appeal with the Yorkshire Evening Post to raise funds to research ways to improve the safety of heart surgery. 

At this time, only one in five children born with congenital heart disease lived so see their first birthday, and 70% of heart attacks ended in death. 

Mr Watson was forced by his frustration and his vision of making surgery safer to found the National Heart Research Fund, which later became Heart Research UK. 

In the early 70s, the death rate from heart disease was peaking, causing more than half of all deaths in the UK. 

The first ever hospital-based unit for cardiac research in the UK, in the grounds of Killingbeck Hospital, was established and funded for 20 years by the National Heart Research Fund. 

Here, Mr Watson developed the tissue valve which became the prototype for the valves used in heart surgery today. Made from a pig’s heart valve, it was one of the most durable and reliable valves created and was used for 30 years. 

In 1979, the charity funded six of the first eight successful UK heart transplants at Papworth Hospital carried out by Sir Terence English. 

The start of the 80s marked a turning point, with deaths from heart diseases starting to fall. 

In Newcastle, the National Heart Research Fund funded a new research laboratory at the Freeman Hospital. 

Medical history was made at the same hospital in 1987 when Kaylee Davidson became the youngest heart transplant patient at only five months old. In 2017, she celebrated the 30th anniversary of her operation. 

By the 90s, deaths from heart diseases continued to fall. Due to better understanding and treatment, more people were able to live with heart diseases. 

The National Heart Research Fund funded the development of existing adult treatments, and techniques to be used safely on children started to become a focus. 

In 2001, we began our Healthy Heart Grant scheme, providing funding to community groups across the UK to help improve the heart health of the nation.  

Our research grants began to focus more on medical research that would benefit patients as soon as possible. 

In 2000, we funded the implantation of the world’s first permanent artificial heart. Peter Houghton is to this day a Guinness World Record holder for the ‘longest surviving artificial heart transplant patient’. 

In 2005, we changed our name to Heart Research UK and soon after opened our first regional office in Birmingham. 

During the 2010s we funded Healthy Heart Grants in 12 regions across the UK each year, supporting communities to become more heart healthy. 

Our cutting-edge Masterclasses started in 2012, providing clinicians and health professionals with the latest training and knowledge, and allowing world-renowned experts to share their skills. 

We also started developing our Primary Schools Programme which uses the latest technology to take Year 5 and 6 pupils on a journey through the heart to learn all about the heart and circulatory systems. 

In 2019 we launched our Heart of Scotland Appeal, which aims to raise and spend money in Scotland to support people with heart diseases there.  

The early 2020s were dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and we had to put our Healthy Heart Grants and health checks on hold, but we also awarded a number of grants to explore the effects of COVID on the heart. 

Our other research remains on the cutting edge of cardiovascular science with the hope of changing the way we diagnose and treat heart diseases for future generations. 

Since our beginning, we have funded over £30m of pioneering research in to the prevention, treatment and cure of heart diseases. 

Today, in 2023, cardiovascular disease causes one in four deaths in the UK. 

Children born with congenital heart disease today have an 80% chance of surviving to adulthood, and today, 70% of people who suffer a heart attack survive.