Research Project
Discovery of new mechanisms for coronary heart disease
Principal Investigator: Prof Gemma Figtree
Co-Investigators: Dr Kristen Bubb
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Australia. Despite major advances in the understanding and treatment of heart disease, there remains a large gap in our knowledge of what drives this.
Almost 50% of patients presenting to the Royal North Shore Hospital catheter laboratory due to a heart attack have only 1 or zero traditional risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking or high cholesterol. This percentage has increased over the last 10 years.
Professor Figtree and Dr Bubb will investigate whether differences in redox signaling are a mechanism of susceptibility in some individuals, and new discoveries may assist in overcoming previous hurdles in measuring or treating such abnormalities.