Cardiovascular & Diabetes Research at the Faculty of Pharmacy
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) and Diabetes are major health threats to Australians. According to the Heart Foundation, cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in Australia, while diabetes is the country’s fastest growing chronic disease and the sixth leading cause of death in in the country.
Research conducted in the faculty covers a range of disorders causing cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis and diabetes. Researchers are examining several key aspects to reduce accumulation of ‘bad’ cholesterol in cardiovascular disease and to improve treatment of diabetes. Current research projects within the faculty focus on pharmaceutical upregulation of transporters to enhance cholesterol removal from atherosclerotic lesions. This is closely linked to projects using molecular modeling, computational chemistry, as well as herbal medicines, drug design and development of new anti-atherosclerotic and anti-diabetic drugs. Cardiovascular and diabetes-orientated research at the Faculty of Pharmacy will increase in the future with intensified participation in collaborative research projects with the Charles Perkins Centre.
Research Strengths
- Cholesterol transporters and removal of excess cholesterol in atherosclerosis
- Design and synthesis of new anti-atherosclerotic and anti-diabetic drugs
- Herbal medicines for the management of hyperlipidemia and diabetes
- Optimisation of anti-thrombotic therapy for stroke prevention
Chronic Disease Management
The faculty has a long history of developing disease management programs for pharmacists. Besides laboratory-based research projects focusing on target identification and drug development, better management, treatment and prevention models for metabolic syndrome and diabetes are being developed. The new pharmacy diabetes management model to improve cardiovascular medication adherence aims to educate and up-skill health professionals, GPs, pharmacists and nurses in understanding current issues with adherence to medications and how they can implement strategies to improve management of patients with cardiovascular disease. Research continues to assess how broadly these models can be implemented across pharmacies in Australia and how they should be refined. Future research will provide evidence for the expansion of the role of pharmacists into chronic care.