That the Parliament welcomes the recent announcement that the University of Aberdeen has been awarded a major five-year programme grant worth over £1.1 million from the British Heart Foundation in order to drive forward research that could lead to a new way of protecting people from heart disease; understands that the project, which is being led by Aberdeen’s Cardiovascular and Diabetes Centre, will build on earlier discoveries showing that blocking a key enzyme in immune cells may help to reduce the build-up of fat in the arteries, a process known as atherosclerosis, which causes most heart attacks and strokes; notes that the funding will also bring together an international team, with partners at the universities of Liverpool, Leeds, Dundee, Copenhagen, Leiden and Nantes, who will explore whether this approach could benefit those at high risk of heart disease, including those with inherited high cholesterol; understands that, if clinical trials are successful, this could eventually lead to a new type of cholesterol-lowering medicine, which could be used either on its own or in combination with statins, offering hope to those who don’t respond well to current treatments; recognises that pioneering studies such as this one are vital, given that across the UK, where every three minutes, someone dies due to cardiovascular disease; believes that this must change in the future; notes the hard work and dedication of all members of the team involved in the research, and wishes them all the best with their work going forward.