AN Oxford University professor will swap his lab coat for lycra next month to take on the famous London to Brighton Bike Ride.

Professor Paul Riley will be riding in the iconic event to raise vital funds for the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) life saving research, which he himself is directly involved in.

Professor Riley is head of the Oxbridge BHF Centre of Regenerative Medicine and is currently investigating ways in which the heart can repair itself after damage.

He said: “I know how devastating heart disease can be.

"My vision is a world where heart damage is temporary and repairable.

"My team and I want to find a way that will mean your heart will repair itself after damage, but we rely largely on donations and people who sign up to events like the London to Brighton Bike Ride to keep our research project going.

"That’s why I will be fighting back against heart disease by joining thousands of cyclists at the BHF’s London to Brighton Bike Ride.

“The BHF has supported me in becoming the scientist I am today and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to ensure more broken hearts can be mended.

"I hope to see as many people as possible riding with me to help achieve that vision.”

He will join around 15,000 cyclists to ride the 54-mile course from Clapham Common, through the Surrey and Sussex countryside to Brighton’s seafront.

Now in its 43rd year, the London to Brighton Bike Ride is Europe’s oldest charity cycling event.

Event lead for the BHF’s fundraising in the Ride, Elizabeth Tack, said: “We wouldn’t be able to fund over 1,000 research projects in over 50 locations across the UK without people taking on this incredible challenge and without the expertise and dedication of our researchers we won’t be able to beat heart disease for good.

"We would like to see even more people join us on what will be a fantastic and fun-filled day.

“There are around 940,000 people in the south east alone living with the burden of heart and circulatory disease.

"With the help of Professor Paul Riley, we have already helped halve death rates from heart and circulatory disease over the past 50 years, but there is still so much more to be done.”

The ride will take place on Sunday, June 17.

Registration for teams and individuals is still open for the London to Brighton Bike Ride. For more information visit www.bhf.org.uk/l2bbr