Case studies

Improving care for people with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: a scholarship success story

Research nurse Faye Forsyth has received funding from the Burdett Trust for Nursing and Evelyn Trust to support her PhD looking at patients’ experiences of living with Heart Failure with preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF), the problems they face and the challenges they experience when trying to access care.

An estimated 1 million people are living with heart failure in the UK – and this number is growing as the population ages and lives longer with multi-comorbid conditions.

As a research nurse, Faye regularly heard about the problems which patients with HFpEF experienced when trying to seek a diagnosis and access supportive care services; she also worked on the OPTIMISE HFpEF research at the University of Cambridge.

Faye is now a part-time PhD Student at the University of Cambridge, where she is exploring whether lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise will improve quality of life for people with HFpEF, and what types of changes they find acceptable, given the high burden of treatment they already experience.

Your Path in Research: a Physiotherapist’s story

Anuj Punnoose is a physiotherapist and team leader at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

In 2010 Anuj studied for a Masters at UEA (University of East Anglia) in Norwich, and later went on an MSc-PhD Bridging Programme before applying successfully for a fully-funded NIHR Doctoral Fellowship, which he started in 2022.

In this short video Anuj talks about his research – and how it could improve patient care for young and middle-aged adults with hip pain.