She is a founder Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science and a Fellow and Council Member of the Royal Society, Edinburgh. She is currently Head of the Institute of Cardiovascular Research. Her research interests centre on cardiovascular disease with especial reference to peripheral arterial disease (PAD), evaluating biomarkers, inflammation, endothelial function and novel treatments. She also has a keen interest in the Microcirculation and is researching environmental issues such as the effects of air pollution on health. Professor Belch is Chair or former Chair of trial steering committees for 19 international multicentre clinical trials of new treatments for vascular disease, and she has authored over 400 publications in peer-reviewed journals. She is Immediate Past President of the UK Section of Vascular Medicine at the Royal Society of Medicine and is currently President of the European Society of Vascular Medicine (ESVM), for whom she also chairs the ESVM Guidelines Committee. She was awarded an OBE in 2016 for Services to Medicine, and the Saltire Outstanding Women of the year in 2019.