Over $20 million in funding awarded to 34 NSW cardiovascular researchers

With heart disease killing one person every 12 minutes, investment in cardiovascular research to predict, prevent and treat it more accurately is important not only to keep people healthy, but also to reduce pressure on our health system.

In June 2018, the NSW Government announced it would invest $150 million in cardiovascular disease research over the next decade.

This investment is supporting research in new discoveries, innovative therapies as well as providing support for more clinical trials and leveraging existing research already underway across institutes, hospital and universities.

NSW’s Cardiovascular Research Capacity Program aims to support high-quality cardiovascular researchers to increase national and international competitiveness of NSW cardiovascular research.

As part of this Program, NSW Health announced in March that four leading international and national researchers have been awarded Research Leader and Elite Postdoctoral grants and will commence new roles in NSW over the coming months.

To turbo-charge the State’s cardiovascular research capacity, a further 13 Senior Researchers and 21 Early-Mid Career Researchers have been award over $20 million in grants for research being undertaken across a range of settings including preventive health, gene therapy, clinical services and emergency medicine.

These Senior Researcher and Early-Mid Career Researcher grants reinforce NSW’s commitment to building local research capacity, and to supporting a strategic and competitive position for national cardiovascular research funding.

NSW researchers awarded grants include:

• Professor David Adams, Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute & University of Wollongong
• Professor David Celermajer, Heart Research Institute & University of Sydney
• Professor Beng Chong, NSW Health Pathology & University of NSW
• Professor Diane Fatkin, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute & University of NSW
• Professor Stuart Grieve, University of Sydney
• Professor Phillip Hogg, Centenary Institute & University of Sydney
• Professor Shaun Jackson, Heart Research Institute & University of Sydney
• Professor Peter Macdonald, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
• Professor Angela Makris, Heart Research Institute & Western Sydney University
• Professor Bruce Neal, The George Institute for Global Health & University of NSW
• Professor Kerry-Anne Rye, University of NSW
• Associate Prof Simone Schoenwaelder, Heart Research Institute & University of Sydney
• Professor Neil Spratt, University of Newcastle
• Dr Clare Arnott, The George Institute for Global Health & University of NSW
• Dr Paul Coleman, Heart Research Institute, Centenary Institute & University of Sydney
• Dr Kristina Cook, University of Sydney
• Dr Monique Francois, University of Wollongong & Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute
• Associate Professor Eleni Giannoulatou, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute & University of NSW
• Dr Karice Hyun, University of Sydney
• Associate Professor Eddy Kizana, University of Sydney
• Associate Professor Saurabh Kumar, University of Sydney
• Dr Renjing Liu, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute & University of NSW
• Associate Professor Ricky O’Brien, University of Sydney
• Dr James Otton, University of NSW
• Dr Stephanie Partridge, University of Sydney
• Dr Freda Passam, Heart Research Institute & University of Sydney
• Associate Professor Sanjay Patel, Heart Research Institute & University of Sydney
• Dr Faraz Pathan, University of Sydney & Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District
• Dr Yanfei (Jacob) Qi, Centenary Institute & University of Sydney
• Dr Pierre Qian, University of Sydney
• Dr Christopher Stanley, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute & University of NSW
• Associate Professor Aaron Sverdlov, University of Newcastle, Hunter Medical Research Institute & Hunter New England Local Health District
• Associate Professor Steven Wise, University of Sydney
• Associate Professor Luke Wolfenden, Hunter New England Local Health District & University of Newcastle.

Further information on all recipients’ and their research projects is available at www.medicalresearch.nsw.gov.au/research-directory/.