Research funding
How we fund research
- The Heart Foundation funds heart research across the entire spectrum, from bench to bedside and beyond.
- We fund a wide range of topics across the areas of biomedical, clinical, public health and health services.
- Our research funding goes to both individual researchers and for projects.
2019 Research Funding Offers
The Heart Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of our research awards; in 2019 we are funding 67 individual awards to support Australia’s best and brightest researchers to investigate the causes, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and related disorders.
The successful projects encompass biomedical, clinical, public health and health services. There were 479 applications, up from 420 in 2018; 56 per cent of successful applicants are women.
In 2019, the Heart Foundation has invested in 66 Australian researchers across:
- 30 Fellowships
- 6 Scholarships
- 31 Project Grants
See below for the full list of successful applicants.
-
Future Leader Fellowships
Future Leader Fellowships support cardiovascular researchers as they build their research capacity and become leaders of research groups.
The Fellowships provide generous salary and project funding to facilitate high impact research outcomes.
Name
Administering Institution
Award Title
Dr Chengxue Helena Qin
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Discovering and Delivering Novel Drugs for Cardiovascular Disease.
Dr Erin Howden
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Exercise to prevent heart and vascular damage from cancer treatments
Dr Kate Weeks
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Emerging drug targets for heart failure
Associate Professor Adrian Cameron
Deakin University
Evidence to support healthy supermarket interventions
Dr Joshua Lewis
Edith Cowan University
A change of heart: a novel tool to alter the course of cardiovascular disease
Associate Professor Dennis Thiam Leong Wong
Monash University
Pericoronary fat attenuation index and coronary inflammation
Dr Paul Lacaze
Monash University
Genetic protection against cardiovascular disease
Dr Sarah Zaman
Monash University
Atherosclerotic Heart Disease in Women
Professor Carol Hodgson
Monash University
Improving the quality of survival in patients with acute heart failure admitted to intensive care
Dr Hang Ta
The University of Queensland
Smart nanomedicine for diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases
Dr Lining Ju
University of Sydney
Novel ‘Mechano-medicine’ combats deadly platelet clotting in diabetes.
Dr Martin Schultz
University of Tasmania
Power to the treadmill: clinical exercise physiology to improve the detection of high blood pressure
Associate Professor Sally Inglis
University of Technology, Sydney
Evaluating and improving outcomes for people with peripheral arterial disease (PAD)
Dr Esther Ooi
University of Western Australia
Closing residual "risk gap" in heart and metabolic diseases
Associate Professor Hayley Christian
University of Western Australia
Improving young children’s physical activity to reduce obesity
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Postdoctoral Fellowships
Postdoctoral Fellowships encourage and support early-career cardiovascular researchers to develop research skills and independence.
The Fellowships help researchers further their career as they become more competitive for future funding from a range of sources.
Name
Administering Institution
Award Title
Dr Stephanie Alley
Central Queensland University
Increasing physical activity in older adults using a personalised online program and social support
Laura Alston
Deakin University
Reducing the burden of Cardiovascular diseases for Future Rural Dwelling Australians
Dr Lauren Blekkenhorst
Edith Cowan University
Vegetable types and their bioactives: growing the evidence for cardiovascular health benefits
Dr Cheryl Carcel
University of New South Wales
Closing inequities in cardiovascular health between Australian women and men
Dr Revathy Carnagarin
University of Western Australia
The role of immune system in the causation of high blood pressure
Dr Rachel Climie
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Vascular ageing and cardiometabolic disease in high-risk populations.
Dr Alice Grady
The University of Newcastle
Improving the health of pre-schoolers: simple childcare-based interventions delivered at scale.
Dr Mohammadhossein Hassanshahi
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute Limited
What role do local stem cells play in atherosclerosis?
Dr Saman Khalesi Taharoom
Central Queensland University
Reducing salt intake using personalised web-based advice to lower blood pressure
Dr Abdul Waheed Khan
Monash University
Understanding the gene environment interaction in diabetes associated atherosclerosis
Dr Sam Liao
Monash University
Developing a rapid implantation technique for cardiovascular devices
Dr Jonathan Rawstorn
Deakin University
Remotely supervised exercise training for heart failure
Dr Qian Su University of Technology, Sydney Imaging Profiling Platform for Thrombotic Disease Dr Jing Tian University of Tasmania Predictors and cardiometabolic risk of obesity trajectories over a life period from childhood Dr Geoffrey Wong
Melbourne Health
Genetics of heart failure due to heart rhythm disorders
Dr Xiaoyue Xu
University of Technology, Sydney
Diet and nutrition in older women with atrial fibrillation
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Health Professional Scholarships
Health Professional Scholarships support cardiovascular health professionals to undertake a PhD.
The Scholarships encourage health professionals to become active in research while continuing their cardiovascular health practice.
Name
Administering Institution
Award Title
Dr Hashrul Rashid
Monash University
Hypoattenuated Leaflet Thickening and Leaflet Thrombosis following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement
Dr Angela Xun Nan Chen
Flinders University
Understanding the adverse cardio-metabolic effects of glucocorticoids – the clinical and biological determinants
Dr Chee Loong Chow
University of Melbourne
HISPACE: A Randomised Controlled Trial Comparing His-Bundle Pacing with Conventional Dual Chamber Pacemakers
Laura Yeates
University of Sydney
Caring for families affected by sudden cardiac death of a young relative (<35 years) due to genetic heart disease
Dr Jonathan Sen
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Identification and Management of Age-related Myocardial Phenotypes in Aortic Stenosis and Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction
-
Vanguard Grants
Name
Administering Institution
Award Title
Professor John Atherton
Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Foundation
Screening and Monitoring for Cardiac Dysfunction using Echocardiography and Novice Healthcare Staff
Dr Susann Beier
University of New South Wales
Optimization of Bifurcation Stenting
Associate Professor Janet Bray
Monash University
Identifying strategies to improve survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
Associate Professor Duncan Campbell
St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research
Improving prevention of cardiovascular disease
Associate Professor James Chong
University of Sydney
Tropoelastin: a new treatment to decrease cardiac scar rigidity and prevent heart failure
Professor Clara Chow
University of Sydney
Can we mass screen for AF among those aged over 75 in Australia?
Professor Robyn Clark
Flinders University
Standardised ACS discharge and medication education using Avatars to prevent 30-day readmission.
Dr Belinda Di Bartolo
University of Sydney
Does a novel P2X7R antagonist reduce diabetic cardiomyopathy?
Associate Professor Anand Ganesan
Flinders University
A universal framework to quantify rotor formation and destruction in atrial fibrillation
Dr Quan Huynh
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Risk-guided Intervention to Reduce Heart Failure Readmission
Associate Professor Michelle Keske
Deakin University
Skeletal muscle blood flow in heart failure
Associate Professor Eddy Kizana
University of Sydney
Creation of a Biological Pacemaker
Associate Professor Saurabh Kumar
University of Sydney
Smartphone-based ECG Monitors for the Diagnosis of Heart Rhythm Disorders
Dr Francine Marques
Monash University
Gut pH and blood pressure
Associate Professor Julie McMullen
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
A new drug delivery platform called Nano-Ghosts loaded with a protective gene for the failing heart
Associate Professor Peter Molenaar
The University of Queensland
New medicines to keep heart failure patients alive
Associate Professor Graeme Polglase
Monash University
Improving cardiopulmonary resuscitation of newborn babies in the delivery room.
Associate Professor Peter Psaltis
The University of Adelaide
What role do local stem cells play in atherosclerosis?
Dr Chengxue Helena Qin
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
A Novel Anti-Inflammatory Approach to Treat Hypertension
Dr Eleanor Quested
Curtin University
Harnessing the appeal of professional sport to improve health for men with cardiovascular disease
Professor Kerry-Anne Rye
University of New South Wales
Stopping Heart Attacks in People with Diabetes
Associate Professor Simone Schoenwaelder
University of Sydney
Identification of new approaches for the treatment of stroke
Associate Professor Dion Stub
Monash University
Assessment of pain relief during heart attack
Associate Professor Raymond Sy
University of Sydney
Assessing the Effect of Quinidine in Brugada Syndrome
Associate Professor Shane Thomas
University of New South Wales
Targeting the inflammatory enzyme heparanase to treat cardiovascular disease
Dr Phillip Tully
The University of Adelaide
Collaborative depression care for coronary heart disease patients: a clinical trial
Dr Anna Waterhouse
University of Sydney
Reducing blood clots in artificial hearts
Dr Connie Wong
Monash University
Brain-gut axis in stroke
Dr Rebecca Wyse
The University of Newcastle
Harnessing digital innovation in High School Canteens to reduce cardiovascular dietary risk factors
Recognising Australia’s best and brightest heart health researchers
We are pleased to announce the awards for the year’s most outstanding and innovative applications.
Ross Hohnen Award for Research Excellence Vanguard Grants
This award recognises 2019’s most outstanding and innovative Vanguard Grant application. The recipient receives an additional $10,000 on top of the Grant.
The award recognises:
- Associate Professor Saurabh Kumar, University of Sydney
Heart Foundation Paul Korner Innovation Award
This award recognises 2019’s most innovative successful Future Leader Fellowship and Postdoctoral Fellowship applications. The recipients receive an additional $20,000 on top of the Fellowship.
The award recognises:
Future Leader Fellowships
- Dr Hang Ta, The University of Queensland
- Dr Lining Ju, University of Sydney
Postdoctoral Fellowships
- Dr Rachel Climie, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute (Vic)
- Dr Cheryl Carcel, University of New South Wales