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The University of Birmingham is leading a new clinical trial to discover whether kidney transplants can reverse the heart and blood circulation damage that is often caused by chronic kidney disease. The trial, funded by a £272,481 award from the charity British Heart Foundation (BHF), will assess if heart and circulatory conditions are reversed when patients with reduced kidney function receive a kidney transplant. When kidneys become impaired, the heart also suffers as it has to increase its workload to pump blood around the body, therefore people living with chronic kidney disease are at a higher risk of death or morbidity due to heart and circulatory disease. Existing evidence has shown kidney disease patients needing dialysis treatment and those with abnormalities of calcium and phosphate control are at greater risk of conditions such as increased blood vessel stiffness, heart weight and scattered heart scarring. Charles Ferro, Honorary Professor of Renal Medicine at the University of Birmingham's Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Consultant Nephrologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham , has received the funding from the BHF for the three-year clinical research project. The study, which will involve 100 people with chronic kidney disease, will see people who are currently on dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant undergoing an MRI heart scan before their transplant. They will then receive a follow-up test one year after they receive a transplant.