11 February 2026
Congratulations to Dr Brian Halliday, consultant cardiologist at Royal Brompton Hospital, who has been awarded funding to establish cutting-edge multinuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy at our hospitals, paving the way for world‑leading precision medicine research in heart disease.
Funded by the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital Charity, this grant will upgrade the current Cima X MRI scanner at Royal Brompton Hospital. This investment will transform the scanner’s capabilities and allow advanced magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to be performed alongside state-of-the-art cardiac imaging.
MRS is a type of scan that provides detailed biochemical information about tissues, showing concentrations of different molecules rather than just anatomy. This is important because the heart requires more energy than any other organ in the human body, and when a person develops heart disease this energy production can become inefficient, worsening the disease. These changes can be detected by MRS, allowing clinicians to assess the heart’s energy efficiency.
Dr Halliday and his team are already internationally recognised for their work in advanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) and heart failure research. As part of his British Heart foundation fellowship, over the past four years, Dr Halliday has worked alongside colleagues at the University of Oxford to develop expertise in a particular type of MRS called 31phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31PMRS). This scan offers an unparalleled ability to measure the efficiency of energy production in the heart, a critical but previously hard-to-measure driver of heart disease.
The funding will enable 31PMRS to be carried out at Royal Brompton hospital for the first time. By combining this capability with the team’s existing expertise in diffusion tensor imaging, the programme will support cutting edge research across the spectrum of cardiovascular disease and provide patients with access to innovative therapies currently being tested.
When asked for comment Dr Halliday stated: “We are looking forward to getting started with phosphorus spectroscopy on our state-of-the-art CIMA scanner. This creates huge opportunities to better understand many different causes of heart disease and study the effects of new therapies. We will perform studies in patients with genetic forms of cardiomyopathy and look forward to collaborating with different teams throughout the Trust to study other forms of heart disease. A big thank you to the charity for this fantastic award!”
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