The University of Leicester has been given a £7m donation – the biggest financial gift in its history.
The money was donated by the John and Lucille Van Geest Foundation.
Around £2.5m of it will be used to build blood laboratories and the remaining £4.5 will fund heart disease research in the shape of a new Van Geest Foundation Heart and Cardiovascular Diseases Research Fund.
A university spokesperson told the BBC they hoped the funding would allow Leicester to compete for funding for the most “exciting and cutting-edge studies that will advance the fight against cardiovascular disease for years to come”.