Current Research

Heart failure rates are increasing exponentially in Australia and worldwide. One in two people diagnosed with severe heart failure will die within one year of...

Read more

Moving more and sitting less are critical for cardiovascular health from a young age and important for future heart health later in life. However, many...

Read more

This project aims to identify the early signs of heart diseases and to better understand precise mechanisms using new imaging techniques.  Early...

Read more

Brugada Syndrome (BrS) is an inherited heart disease that can cause irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias) and sudden cardiac death. It accounts for 20% of...

Read more

Heart attacks remain the leading single cause of death in Australia. This is despite many advances to medications and treatments. The treatment of chest pain...

Read more

Every year around 20,000 Australians die from atherosclerotic heart disease, or fatty plaque build-up in the heart arteries. What surprises most, is that more...

Read more

Hypertension (aka high blood pressure) is the primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It affects ~4.6 million Australians and in >90% of cases the...

Read more

Heart failure (HF) is the commonest and most disabling form of chronic cardiovascular disease with up to half of patients having the specific problem of heart...

Read more

These patches can perform a range of functions that are done by a ‘real’ organ, but their use is currently limited by the lack of a vascular (blood)...

Read more

Stroke is one of the leading contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite its recognised debilitating neurological deficits, stroke is associated...

Read more

THE PROBLEM: The way people use their time (e.g., sleep, physical activity, sitting, social interactions) impacts on their cardiovascular health. The...

Read more

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common, especially among the elderly, and carries a high associated risk of stroke. Prevalence of AF increases with age, and studies...

Read more

Breast cancer accounts for 30% of all new cancers in Australian women each year. Oestrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) early stage breast cancer has a relatively...

Read more

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide.  Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) provide a unique vantage point into fundamental...

Read more

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a devastating complication of many genetic heart diseases particularly when it occurs in a young person (<35 years). In...

Read more

Blood vessel disease, or atherosclerosis, the disease that causes most heart attacks and strokes occurs years before these events. We can now quickly, easily...

Read more

There is high demand for effective prevention and treatment strategies for cardiovascular (CV) disease. However, published evidence suggests that women and...

Read more

Heart disease remains a leading cause of hospitalizations and deaths in Australia and globally. Therefore, heart disease prevention is a public health priority....

Read more

Collaborative depression care is standard practice in the USA and UK for coronary heart disease (CHD) and heart failure patients, however, this model of...

Read more

Coronary artery disease is a leading cause of mortality and morbiditiy worldwide. Invasive treatment of coronary artery disease with percutaneous coronary...

Read more

Electronic pacemakers are the current standard of care for patients with symptomatic bradycardia. These devices require surgery for implantation, are prone to...

Read more

With a prevalence of over 23 million worldwide, heart failure is a global epidemic. Despite the huge demand for donor hearts, there are less than 100 implanted...

Read more

Heart failure is a worldwide epidemic, estimated to affect over 23 million people. The gold standard for end-stage heart failure patients is a heart transplant;...

Read more

Heart attack is one of the leading causing of death and disability in Australia with over 20 Australians dying of heart attack each day. A heart attack is...

Read more

While research has led to important advances in stroke recovery, stroke remains one of the leading causes of adult disability globally. To reduce the long-term...

Read more

Atherosclerosis, thrombosis and their complications are leading causes of mortality and morbidity in Australia.  Dr Xiaowei Wang’s goal is to...

Read more

The chronic cardiovascular disease atrial fibrillation (AF) – or irregular heartbeat, which can lead to stoke and heart failure – causes more deaths...

Read more

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death in Australia. Despite improvements over the last few decades, CVD remains one of the...

Read more

Patients do not present complaining of ‘heart failure’. Rather, they present with symptoms of exercise intolerance, fatigue or breathlessness. A...

Read more

Heart failure is a common endpoint for numerous cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension, coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes. Approximately 50%...

Read more

This project aims to advance scientific knowledge about a life-altering cardiovascular problem, peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and give patients access to...

Read more

Australians buy most of their food in supermarkets. The current supermarket environment, including the use of marketing strategies such as the placement,...

Read more

Survivors of cancers have significantly elevated risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Contributing factors include the direct effect of cancer,...

Read more

Suboptimal diet is a leading risk factor for death and disability in Australia and globally. An unhealthy diet greatly increases the risk of heart attack and...

Read more

Protective genetic variants play an important role in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, and have informed the development of drug therapies for CVD....

Read more

Heart failure (HF) is a disease in which the pumping ability of the heart is impaired. It represents a significant burden on healthcare worldwide, affecting...

Read more

Heart attack and secondary heart failure remain significant health burdens.  Stimulation of adenosine G protein-coupled receptors (ARs) located on heart...

Read more

High blood pressure continues to be a major, poorly controlled but modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular death, and is linked to chronic inflammation....

Read more

Severe aortic stenosis is stiffening of the aortic valve, which may lead to heart failure and death. It can be treated with transcatheter aortic valve...

Read more

This research aims to implement a novel intervention using emerging technology to improve the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) related dietary risk factors of...

Read more

Regular exercise and healthy eating are critical to help prevent people with cardiovascular disease from experiencing further heart problems. However, most...

Read more

Stroke is a major public health concern and one in six people will have a stroke in their lifetime. Almost half of stroke survivors will have another stroke....

Read more

Hypertension affects millions of Australians and is a leading risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Most people with hypertension have "essential...

Read more

Pacemakers are key in the management of cardiac conduction problems. Conventional pacemakers provide pacing support via the right ventricle (RV). Chronic RV...

Read more

Insufficient physical activity is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), but motivating individuals to be active for health benefits has...

Read more

Patients with pre-existing type 2 diabetes have significantly impaired clinical outcomes following a cardiovascular event (e.g. ischemia), in comparison to...

Read more

Acute Ischaemic Stroke (stroke) is the third most-common cause of death and a leading cause of disability. Up to 85% of strokes are caused by blood clots that...

Read more

Heart failure (HF) reflects the inability of the heart to provide sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body and affects at least 26 million people...

Read more

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a significant public health issue. In Australia and New Zealand, as many as 30,000 OHCA occur every year with only 12%...

Read more

Platelets play a crucial role in blood clot formation, causing heart attack and thrombotic disease, the No.1 killer in Australia. Platelet integrin and its...

Read more

One of the cornerstones of modern cardiovascular intervention is the use of mechanical circulatory support. Mechanical circulatory support exists as devices...

Read more

Strong evidence exists that the roots of heart disease begin to form in childhood. While premature birth or high blood pressure in childhood lead to a higher...

Read more

In its severest form perinatal asphyxia causes severe oxygen deficiency (hypoxia) to the fetus/newborn before or during birth, has multiple causes and is common...

Read more

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), mainly made up of heart attacks and stroke, is the leading cause of death in Australia and globally. Most CVD events can be...

Read more

Despite significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, emergencies of cardiac arrest and heart attack continue to be a major...

Read more

Severe heart failure and cardiac arrest remain major causes of death in our community. Traditional treatment with drugs and standard resuscitation are...

Read more

This research project will investigate strategies to improve the identification of people at risk of heart and kidney disease. Current protocols do not...

Read more

Inadequate physical activity and poor dietary intake are modifiable risk factors for obesity, one of the largest contributors to cardiovascular disease (CVD)...

Read more

Depression and anxiety commonly co-occur with coronary heart disease (CHD) - both before and after a cardiac event. This relationship is particularly...

Read more

The research proposal includes two themes of (1) improving stroke prevention and (2) improving stroke management. I will be based at the Menzies Institute for...

Read more

Fewer than 1 in 10 children currently meet Australian 24-hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years that focus on physical activity, sedentariness and sleep....

Read more

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease increases with age and is 18% in Australians 65-74 years and 31% in Australians 75+ years of age. Regular physical...

Read more

Heart failure (HF) is characterised by progressive weakening of the heart muscle, resulting in ineffective pumping of blood to the body. This is a serious...

Read more

Acute kidney injury is defined as a ‘sudden loss in our kidney function’. Unfortunately, acute kidney injury develops in 30% of patients following...

Read more

Many people worldwide experience major barriers to accessing high quality care and this is a major contributor to the avoidable disease burden from vascular...

Read more

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy affects 1:200 of the general population. It is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in the young. However, no treatment exists...

Read more

Cardiovascular disease, e.g., heart attack, is the leading cause of deaths in Australia and worldwide. Each year, more than 20 million people experience heart...

Read more

New treatments to protect the heart after a heart attack are urgently needed. In this proposal we will load a novel drug delivery system called...

Read more

Cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer of Australians every year. Dr Nicola Smith's laboratory is interested in finding new therapeutic targets for...

Read more

Heart failure is a global health issue with rising prevalence, affecting around 26 million people worldwide, placing significant burden on healthcare...

Read more

Cardiovascular disease is the major killer in Australia with congenital heart disease (CHD) affecting 1 in 100 live born babies. Although paediatric surgeries...

Read more

High-throughput three-dimensional imaging is the future of cardiovascular tissue pathology: large volume, high-throughput imaging combined with full-service...

Read more

Hypertension is the major risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases, and its incidence is predicted to continue to grow, thus developing novel...

Read more

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the largest single cause of death in Australia today. Research shows that patients with periodontal disease are almost twice as...

Read more

In Australia, one person develops diabetes every 5 minutes. Patients with Type 2 diabetes  (T2D) are six times more likely to develop heart disease than...

Read more

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) occurs in approximately 1000 Australians under 50 years old annually. In the United States, the societal burden imposed in years of...

Read more

Women of reproductive age are a population group at high risk for obesity. This relates to specific hormonal conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome, a...

Read more

The narrowing of the blood vessels through disease develops over time and gradually restrict sufficient blood supply to the heart muscle which causes ischemia,...

Read more

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the largest single cause of death in Australia and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is responsible for much of its mortality and...

Read more

Unhealthy diets and obesity are leading contributors to poor health in Australia. Improving population diets and addressing obesity requires a comprehensive...

Read more

High blood pressure (BP) is the foremost risk factor for cardiovascular disease &ndash; the leading cause of death worldwide &ndash; and accounts for...

Read more

High blood pressure is a leading contributor to the global burden of disease, and salt reduction has been identified as one of the most cost-effective...

Read more

Coronary heart disease remains a major concern globally and within Australia despite advances in health promotion and treatment options. A major challenge...

Read more

Obesity is one of the greatest health challenges facing today’s adolescents, who now account for the largest global population segment (>25%). In...

Read more

This application aims to build an international program centred on the theme of primary prevention of stroke. It will utilise national and international...

Read more

Artificial hearts replace the function of failing hearts and are used when transplantation is not possible or available. However, artificial hearts cause...

Read more

In a healthy pregnancy, the mother’s blood vessels adapt and grow to enable sufficient supply of oxygen and nutrients to the growing baby. However, in the...

Read more

Australians, particularly young Australians, drink sugary drinks in high quantities.  These beverages (soft drinks, sports drinks and energy drinks) are...

Read more

One in three Australian adults has high blood pressure, which is a significant risk factor of CVD. Australians consume too much salt, and this is an important...

Read more

This fellowship proposal represents a supportive, international collaboration between the University of Birmingham, Deakin University’s Global Obesity...

Read more

For people with heart failure, exercise rehabilitation improves quality of life, reduces admissions to hospital, and saves lives. However, its potential impact...

Read more

As heart failure HF patients form a large proportion of hospital readmissions, reducing HF readmission rates would benefit both hospital expenditure and quality...

Read more

In Australia over 2,000 babies are born with congenital heart disease (CHD) each year.  With the majority surviving cardiac surgery, the adult CHD...

Read more

Recent evidence suggests an important link between peripheral and central neuro-inflammation, sympathetic activation and blood pressure (BP) elevation. This...

Read more

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm disturbance in Australia, and it is expected to affect more and more Australians in the future due to...

Read more

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability in the world and has the greatest impact on patients over 65 years old. As the heart...

Read more

Heart failure is a leading cause of hospitalisation, with increasing prevalence and poor outcomes partly related to treatments being applied late in the disease...

Read more

The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity globally and in Australia is an urgent public health issue, due to its negative effects on health and its...

Read more

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) reflects the inability of the cardiovascular system to provide sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of...

Read more

The early detection and accurate characterization of life-threatening diseases such as cardiovascular diseases are critical to the design of treatment. A...

Read more

Heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias) are a major contributor emergency department hospitalisations/clinic visits contributing to significant health costs. Some...

Read more

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a prevalent cardiac arrhythmia with an estimated 33.5 million patients globally in 2010, and evidence suggests that these figures...

Read more

Australian data report that up to 1 in 5 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients are readmitted within 30-days. It is estimated that between 2017-18, ACS...

Read more

People with diabetes are 2-4-times more likely to develop an accelerated and aggressive form of heart disease than people without diabetes. The standard...

Read more

There are now more than 65,000 Australians living with congenital heart disease (CHD). Those with complex CHD are at increased risk of neurodevelopmental...

Read more

High blood pressure causes early death from stroke and heart disease; the biggest killers in Australia. Most Australian adults and children consume too much...

Read more

Diet-related chronic diseases account for the majority of disease and death globally and overwhelm health budgets. A major focus of my research to date has been...

Read more

Millions of people worldwide do not have access to quality health care for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention and control due to health workforce...

Read more

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) affects 30 million people worldwide and is responsible for the loss of over 350,000 lives per year with over 100,000 of these...

Read more

Improved cardiovascular health can make a critical contribution to reducing the difference in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians....

Read more

Aortic aneurysms are relatively common cardiovascular disorders, but are severely understudied. They are characterised by weakening or bulging of the aorta that...

Read more

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory condition resulting in the formation of atherosclerotic lesions or plaques within the walls of arteries, which...

Read more

Myocardial infarction (MI) is the most frequent single cause of death. It is typically caused by rupture of atherosclerotic plaques in the coronary arteries and...

Read more

Patients with suspected angina are commonly referred by cardiologists to undergo investigations to determine the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and...

Read more

This project aims to improve the use of Australian absolute risk guidelines for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention by increasing: 1) GPs' use of CVD...

Read more

Children undergoing heart surgery require a cardiopulmonary bypass. This is a technique which takes over the work of heart and lungs, so that the surgeon can...

Read more

Following a heart attack, a proportion of heart muscle is starved of oxygen and consequently dies. As the heart does not have the ability to regrow this muscle...

Read more

Diabetes can damage blood vessels by accelerating the process of fatty plaque development known as atherosclerosis. The prevalence of atherosclerosis is...

Read more

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and the leading cause of cardiac hospitalisation in Australia. For over 100 years, it has been...

Read more

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and the leading cause of cardiac hospitalisation in Australia. For over 100 years, it has been...

Read more

Atherosclerosis is the harmful build-up of cholesterol plaques in arteries which leads to coronary artery disease (CAD), the single leading cause of death in...

Read more

Atrioventricular valve regurgitation is a risk factor for poor outcomes during Fontan palliation. My recent work has shown that approximately one third of...

Read more

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disease worldwide. Thus, prevention of CVD is a public health priority, and identifying those at...

Read more

With no disease-modifying therapies for the most common forms of dementia, over 1 million Australians are expected to be living with dementia by the year 2056,...

Read more

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) kills one person every 12 minutes in Australia. Most of these deaths can be prevented by modifying lifestyle factors, including...

Read more

Atherosclerosis is the build up of fatty plaques inside the body’s arteries. As the main cause of heart attack and stroke, it is the leading cause of...

Read more

Atherosclerosis is the build-up of fatty plaques inside the body’s arteries. As the main cause of heart attack and stroke, it is the leading cause of...

Read more