The Heart Foundation has announced a significant investment of $13.7 million in heart disease research, which includes six grants awarded to five academics from UNSW Medicine & Health.
This year’s funded projects aim to address some of the most pressing challenges in cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The research focuses on improving the prevention, treatment, and management of heart disease, stroke, and blood vessel conditions.
Professor Cheryl Jones, Dean of Medicine & Health at UNSW, praised her colleagues for their achievements. “This recognition from the Heart Foundation highlights the dedication and innovative spirit of our researchers,” she stated. “We are incredibly proud of their contributions to heart health research. Their work will lead to new insights and methods that can enhance the lives of many individuals,” Professor Jones added.
David Lloyd, CEO of the Heart Foundation, also congratulated the UNSW researchers. He expressed gratitude to the Foundation’s donors for their support in funding this essential work. “Cardiovascular disease is a serious health issue, claiming a life every 18 minutes,” he noted. “Researchers are vital in changing this statistic. Their efforts help us understand the causes of heart disease and develop better treatments and prevention strategies.”
UNSW Researchers And Their Projects
The following UNSW researchers received funding for their groundbreaking projects:
Dr. Lauren Houston from The George Institute for Global Health received a postdoctoral fellowship to enhance women’s cardiovascular health. Her project aims to combine heart screening with routine mammograms. Cardiovascular disease often presents differently in women compared to men, leading to under-diagnosis and under-treatment. Many women experience symptoms that go unnoticed until it is too late, increasing their risk of serious cardiovascular events. By integrating heart screening into mammograms—which are already used by about 50% of women in high-risk age groups—Dr. Houston hopes to identify women at risk for heart disease more effectively.
Dr. Sara Hungerford, from the School of Clinical Medicine, was awarded both a postdoctoral fellowship and a two-year Vanguard grant. Her research focuses on developing a non-invasive method for hemodynamic monitoring, which is crucial for assessing blood flow and pressure in heart failure patients. Current methods require invasive procedures that carry risks.
Dr. Hungerford’s approach combines ultrasound technology with a wrist device to measure blood pressure, aiming to create a safer system for monitoring cardiovascular health.
Professor Levon Khachigian from the School of Biomedical Sciences received a two-year Vanguard Grant to address ischemic heart disease, the leading cause of death in Australia and globally. His team has developed a novel anti-inflammatory drug that showed promise in reducing heart damage during tests on rats. The project aims to determine if this drug can protect the heart when administered orally after a heart attack.
Dr. Kathy Trieu, also from The George Institute for Global Health, received the Future Leader Fellowship grant to implement innovative interventions aimed at improving diet and heart health in Australia.
Poor diet is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, contributing to one in five deaths worldwide. Dr. Trieu’s four-year program will explore two interventions: using potassium-enriched salt to lower blood pressure and implementing ‘Food is Medicine’ programs that allow healthcare professionals to prescribe nutritious foods at low or no cost.
Dr. Nelson Wang, from The George Institute for Global Health, received a postdoctoral fellowship focused on optimizing management strategies for high cholesterol and high blood pressure—two significant risk factors for heart disease affecting one in three Australian adults. His team will evaluate two different strategies:
enhancing testing frequency or using established clinical trial data to guide treatment decisions.
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