MECHANISMS OF CEREBROVASCULAR REGULATION IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$216,430.00
Summary
Failure of the cerebral circulation to meet the brain's immediate high nutritive requirements results in stroke in just a few minutes. Stroke continues to be a major cause of death and disability, and this major medical challenge requires urgent and significant research at the basic level to better understand mechanisms of normal, and then abnormal, regulation of cerebral artery function. The project will examine the importance of a novel mechanism in regulating brain blood flow by affecting the ....Failure of the cerebral circulation to meet the brain's immediate high nutritive requirements results in stroke in just a few minutes. Stroke continues to be a major cause of death and disability, and this major medical challenge requires urgent and significant research at the basic level to better understand mechanisms of normal, and then abnormal, regulation of cerebral artery function. The project will examine the importance of a novel mechanism in regulating brain blood flow by affecting the degree of opening of the cerebral arteries. This mechanism involves activation of an enzyme, Rho-kinase, which is present in the wall of blood vessels. The applicants believe that this process plays an important role in the normal, healthy regulation of blood supply to the brain. Moreover, there are strong reasons for us to speculate that the function of this enzyme is abnormally high in two disease states that are associated with an increased risk of stroke - high blood pressure and subarachnoid haemorrhage. We will employ a variety of techniques to assess the importance of Rho-kinase in cerebral artery function in the living body, and also in isolated segments of artery. The results are expected to provide major new insight into mechanisms that regulate brain blood flow, and the knowledge gained here may lead to better therapies to prevent or treat stroke.Read moreRead less
Identifying Novel Targets To Treat And Prevent Diabetic Complications
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$697,209.00
Summary
Diabetes is the leading cause for kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplantation. Diabetic patients also have a higher risk to suffer from heart attacks, stroke and amputations in particular once kidney damage occurs. Current strategies fail to completely protect patients from complications. My research will uncover knowledge gaps in our understanding of diabetes complications, identify new targets ultimately leading to urgently needed more effective treatments and prevention strategies to ....Diabetes is the leading cause for kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplantation. Diabetic patients also have a higher risk to suffer from heart attacks, stroke and amputations in particular once kidney damage occurs. Current strategies fail to completely protect patients from complications. My research will uncover knowledge gaps in our understanding of diabetes complications, identify new targets ultimately leading to urgently needed more effective treatments and prevention strategies to reduce the burden of disease in diabetes.Read moreRead less
Ankle Brachial Index Determination By Oscillometric Method IN General Practice (ABIDING)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$128,935.00
Summary
People who have peripheral arterial disease (PAD) have blockages of the circulation to their legs. If you have PAD you have blood vessel disease throughout the body and are very likely to have a heart attack or experience a stroke. PAD can be diagnosed simply by comparing the blood pressure in the arms and legs. Until now this needed a special costly instrument. New blood pressure machines can do this without this instrument. We want to know how reliably this can be done by practice nurses.
The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a metabolic stress-sensing enzyme responsible for matching energy supply to energy demand by the many different cells in our bodies. AMPK is active in the heart, where it may control cardiac function and the response of the heart to disease. It has been difficult to study AMPK in the heart because we lack drugs that block the actions of AMPK. This study will investigate the role of AMPK in the heart using a genetic approach whereby the AMPK enzyme is re ....The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a metabolic stress-sensing enzyme responsible for matching energy supply to energy demand by the many different cells in our bodies. AMPK is active in the heart, where it may control cardiac function and the response of the heart to disease. It has been difficult to study AMPK in the heart because we lack drugs that block the actions of AMPK. This study will investigate the role of AMPK in the heart using a genetic approach whereby the AMPK enzyme is rendered inactive (a gene knockout approach). By this approach we will learn how AMPK controls heart function and how drugs that affect AMPK may impact on the heart.Read moreRead less
I am a cardiologist and epidemiologist whose research focus is on large-scale clinical trials and epidemiological research into the prevention of cardiovascular disease, particularly in relation to treatment strategies for acute coronary syndromes, dyslip
Nox4-containing NADPH-oxidase As A Protective Enzyme In The Cerebral Circulation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$515,812.00
Summary
Failure of the cerebral circulation to meet the brain's immediate high nutritive requirements results in a stroke in just a few minutes. Stroke continues to be a major cause of death and disability, and this major medical challenge requires urgent research at the basic level to better understand the processes of normal, and then abnormal, regulation of brain artery function. The project will test the importance of a newly discovered mechanism for increasing brain blood flow. This involves activa ....Failure of the cerebral circulation to meet the brain's immediate high nutritive requirements results in a stroke in just a few minutes. Stroke continues to be a major cause of death and disability, and this major medical challenge requires urgent research at the basic level to better understand the processes of normal, and then abnormal, regulation of brain artery function. The project will test the importance of a newly discovered mechanism for increasing brain blood flow. This involves activation of an enzyme, Nox4-containing NADPH-oxidase, to generate oxygen radicals which then relax the wall of blood vessels causing the arteries to let more blood through. We believe that this process plays an important role in the normal, healthy maintenance of blood supply to the brain. Furthermore, we propose that the activity of this enzyme is elevated and therefore protective in brain arteries during high blood presure - which is the major risk factor for stroke. We will specifically test whether the activity of this enzyme actually helps to limit the amount of brain death following stroke. We will use a variety of techniques to assess the importance of this enzyme in brain arteries in the living body, and also in isolated segments of brain artery from animals that are either healthy or have diseased brain arteries. The results are expected to provide major new insight into processes that help maintain brain blood flow under normal conditions and after a stroke, and the knowledge gained here should lead to safer therapies to prevent or treat stroke.Read moreRead less
Understanding Ethnic Differences In The Relationships Between Cardiovascular Risk Factors And Cardiovascular Disease In High Risk Populations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$151,374.00
Summary
Cardiovascular disease (disease of the heart and blood vessels) is the leading cause of death world-wide. However, the burden of this disease is significantly greater in some populations, including Indigenous Australians and South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis or Bangladeshis). This project therefore aims to improve our understanding of CVD risk in these populations, and to develop better clinical assessment tools that will assist in the early detection and management of CVD in these individuals.
Central Blood Pressure And Cardiovascular Risk In Children Within The General Population And After Repair Of Congenital Heart Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$431,000.00
Summary
With an exceptional research standing internationally, and as the leader of a Cardiovascular Bioengineering team, I am developing a new method for assessing central blood pressure in children that will provide better information about early risk of cardiovascular disease than arm blood pressure. This will be applied (1) in a large health study of Australian children and (2) to identify risks and causes of adult-type cardiovascular disease in children with repaired congenital heart disease.