Cardiovascular research boosted by NSW Health Fellowships
This round of NSW Health Early-Mid Career Fellowships prioritised research in cardiac health. The Cardiovascular Initiative’s receipt of eight fellowships highlights the strength and expertise of our research in this area.
“Receiving the NSW Health Early-Mid Career Fellowship has given me the valuable opportunity and resources to work alongside the very dedicated research and clinical teams at ANZAC Research Institute and Concord Hospital,” says Dr Helena Liang.
“The fellowship will support me as I employ novel and state-of-the-art research tools to better understand the role of platelet subpopulations in coronary artery disease, in the hopes that we will be able to design new drugs that would provide more targeted therapeutic effects when treating patients, at the same time reducing their risk of abnormal bleeding,” she says.
Dr Liang received the fellowship for her research into finding better treatment for patients with coronary artery disease.
Dr Jodie Ingles also received a fellowship, for her work in understanding clinical, genetic and psychosocial aspects of inherited heart diseases and sudden cardiac death.
“I was awarded the project component of the NSW Health EMCR fellowship, which will help to fund a research assistant and project-related expenses over the next 3 years,” says Dr Ingles. “Having project funding that extends beyond 12 months allows us to have stability and plan ahead, which is sorely needed for EMCRs.”
The Cardiovascular Initiative is a multidisciplinary approach to improving cardiovascular health. It provides a strategic interface between our fundamental cardiovascular research and the translational and clinical work of Sydney Health Partners, with support from the University of Sydney’s Research Portfolio and Charles Perkins Centre.
“The Cardiovascular Initiative aims to formulate a whole of University strategy around cardiovascular research, and collaboration is critical to this work,” says Professor Gemma Figtree, Chair of the Cardiovascular Initiative. “So it’s great to see that these fellowships are distributed across all the areas in the University who are doing cardiovascular research, including the various clinical sites.”
Cardiovascular Initiative recipients:
- Dr Helena Liang, ANZAC Research Institute
- Dr John O’Sullivan, Heart Research Institute
- Dr Stefan Oehlers, Centenary Institute
- Dr Jodie Ingles, Centenary Institute
- Dr Rebecca Kozor, Kolling Institute for Medical Research
- Dr Keyvan Karimi Galougahi, Kolling Institute for Medical Research
- Associate Professor James Chong, Westmead Institute for Medical Research
- Dr Saurabh Kumar, Western Sydney Local Health District.