My Heart Counts is an innovative international research initiative from Imperial College London, Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of Washington, designed to measure, understand and improve cardiovascular health.

The My Heart Counts study invites users to partner directly with researchers to help them understand how activity, lifestyle and fitness relate to cardiovascular health. Currently, the study is open to residents of the United Kingdom and the United States who are 18 years or older, irrespective of cardiovascular health. We have specific project interest in pulmonary hypertension, cardiomyopathies and type 2 diabetes.

Watch this video to find out more.

Core Research Team

Principal Investigators

Allan Lawrie

Professor and Chair of Pulmonary Vascular Diseases

National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London

Euan Ashley

Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Genetics, and Biomedical Data Science

Stanford University School of Medicine

Dan Seung Kim

Assistant Professor of Medicine

University of Washington

UK Co-Investigators (My Heart Counts: PAH BHF Programme Grant)

Imperial College London

University of Sheffield / Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

  • David Kiely, Director of the Sheffield Pulmonary Vascular Disease Unit, Honorary Professor of Pulmonary Vascular Medicine
  • Roger Thompson, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine
  • Tim Chico, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Honorary Consultant Cardiologist, Director South Yorkshire EPSRC Digital Health Hub

University of Cambridge

UK Research Team

US Team

Please visit the Stanford MHC site to view the team members based in the US.

Selected publications

Please visit the Stanford MHC site to view recent publications.

Participation

 
If you would like to become a participant in the study, all you have to do is:
  1. Download the app and review the consent information
  2. Track your daily activity through your phone or a wearable
  3. Add your NHS number (optional, but desired)
  4. Complete a walk test and enter any lab values to learn about your heart risk and how to improve your heart health
You will receive:
  1. AI-tailored coaching to help you move more
  2. Real-time insights to help you track your fitness levels and visualise your progress
  3. The satisfaction of becoming a citizen scientist!
We protect your privacy by:
  1. Anonymising your data and keeping it on secure servers
  2. Complying with all relevant healthcare and data protection regulations
  3. Never selling your data to advertisers

FAQs

 
Is My Heart Counts free to use?
Yes – it is a research study, rather than a commercial product, and is openly available to all UK and US residents.
 
Will my device support the app?
The My Heart Counts App currently runs on iPhones with iOS 16, or later. It can also integrate data from Apple Watches and other HealthKit-compatible wearables. Further integrations and an Android version are coming soon.
 
How will my data be used?
Your data, which is anonymised, will be used for research into heart health. Findings from the study are published in peer-reviews journals. Your data will never be sold to advertisers.
 
Who funds the study?
My Heart Counts is funded by research grants and institutional support from participating universities. No commercial funding has been accepted.
 
If I decide I don’t want to participate in the future, can I withdraw from the study?
Of course – head to the app’s profile settings to withdraw. Any data collected before you withdraw will be retained for research integrity, but no new data will be collected after you have confirmed your decision to withdraw.

Contact

You can contact the My Heart Counts UK team at myheartcountsuk@imperial.ac.uk