BHF pays tribute to Professor Sir George Rada

The British Heart Foundation has paid tribute to former BHF Professor Sir George Rada, who sadly passed away on September 13, 2024, aged 88.

Professor Lord Radda held the BHF Chair in Molecular Cardiology at the University of Oxford from 1984 until his retirement in 2003. He pioneered the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), a technique that uses powerful magnetic fields to examine the chemical structure of the heart. heart and other parts of the body.

His BHF-supported research led to the installation of the first clinical NMR spectrometer at the John Radcliffe Hospital in 1983, allowing doctors to examine patients' soft tissues with greater clarity than ever before. This research proved important in the later development of MRI scanning technology.

An inspiring path to achievement

Sir Radha's story is inspiring not only in terms of his scientific achievements but also in the journey he took to get there. He began studying chemistry at Budapest's Eötvös Lorand University, but after the revolution was reversed by the Soviet invasion, he arrived in Britain as a Hungarian refugee in 1956, believing he had no future in his native country. I did.

After an interview with a professor at Oxford University, he was accepted to continue teaching chemistry at the university. He continued to achieve great firsts and earned a PhD in physical organic chemistry.

This education provided Professor Radda with an excellent foundation to begin his groundbreaking research. In the 1970s, more powerful magnets were made and researchers began using NMR to study the chemical structure of biological materials such as blood and muscle.

After completing initial research on smaller structures such as proteins and cell membranes, he and his team sought to obtain measurements from muscle samples. The hollow superconducting magnets they were using could only collect sample tubes 10 mm in diameter, so the specimens had to be small.

Despite these limitations, the experiments yielded data on muscle proteins in living cells. Encouraged by this success, Radda wanted to extend the same principles to analyze larger muscles, and even the entire heart. In 1975, he approached the pioneering company Oxford Instruments to create an 11 cm diameter magnet.

After consideration, the company said it could do the job, but only at a cost of £25,000. So Radda approached the BHF. His pitch was simple. “I said, 'Look, I think we could put a beating heart inside a magnet like that and study the biochemistry of the heart during a heart attack,'” he later recalled.

Pioneering work that changes lives

The BHF sent two cardiologists to his lab to see what he was talking about, and he showed them a tube with a beating mouse heart inside. It was small enough to fit into his existing magnetic spectrometer.

“I watched it for about 20 minutes,” he said. “And we saw the signal increase. Then we said, 'Okay, let's turn off the oxygen, that's it.' [to simulate] Heart attack. And you'll see those signals fade away. ”

His application for BHF funding was successful and the first large diameter magnet arrived at his Oxford laboratory in 1976. Magnets got bigger and bigger, and by 1983 the Medical Research Council and the Department of Health were convinced of the technology. The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford has been given the first clinical opportunity to use high-field whole-body magnets.

This technology allows doctors to see inside the body better than ever before, allowing them to make decisions they couldn't make before. They were able to test whether an organ was healthy enough for transplant and determine whether a mass of tissue was a cyst or a tumor.

“One of our most distinguished presidents”

The BHF continued to support this research and in 1984 he was appointed BHF Professor of Molecular Cardiology at the University of Oxford.

Sir Radda held the position until his retirement in 2003. He was also Chief Executive of the UK Medical Research Council from 1996 to 2004, Honorary Fellow of Merton College, Emeritus Professor of Molecular Cardiology at the University of Oxford, and Fellow of the Royal Society. .

Professor Brian Williams, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, said:

“George is one of our most distinguished chairmen and the British Heart Foundation is proud to have supported his work. His contribution to the development of new medical technology has been truly pioneering. , who helped countless patients and physicians. His amazing story and lasting legacy are an inspiration to all of us. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends. .”

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