The Heart Research Institute

02/09/2026

We all want more time with the people we love. But for too many, cardiovascular disease takes that time away.

That’s why medical research matters so much. Because researchers can find better ways to detect, treat and prevent cardiovascular disease.

On Wednesday 9 September, HRI is taking part in Australia's first ever Medical Research Giving Day. https://www.medicalresearchday.org.au/hri/?utm_campaign=mri_giving_day&utm_medium=hri&utm_source=facebook

Every dollar you donate on Wednesday 9 September will be DOUBLED thanks to generous matching partners.

HRI Ambassador and Olympian Duncan Armstrong OAM shares his own health story and why supporting researchers like Professor Julie McMullen, one of Australia's foremost heart scientists, is so important.

Together, we can help accelerate the discoveries that will improve lives for generations to come. https://www.medicalresearchday.org.au/hri/?utm_campaign=mri_giving_day&utm_medium=hri&utm_source=facebook

31/08/2026

Mark your calendars 📆

Wednesday 9 September is Australia's inaugural Medical Research Giving Day!

You don't need a lab coat to save a life. Everyone has a role to play in funding breakthroughs.

Your donation on Wednesday 9 September will support the likes of Professor Julie McMullen, Head of HRI’s Heart Muscle Lab and one of Australia’s foremost heart scientists.

Professor McMullen made a world-first discovery identifying a gene critical for exercise-induced protection. Her team is now developing innovative therapies that could replicate these benefits in people with heart disease, offering new hope to those living with heart failure.

Your support could help accelerate her research and give people affected by cardiovascular disease more time with their loved ones. Learn more https://www.medicalresearchday.org.au/hri

27/08/2026

On Wednesday 9 September, HRI will take part in Australia's first Medical Research Giving Day.

When you support HRI, you help fund new ways to detect, treat and prevent cardiovascular disease.

Choose to donate now or on the giving day.

All donations on Wednesday 9 September will be doubled thanks to generous matching partners.

Learn more https://www.medicalresearchday.org.au/hri

27/08/2026

We are thrilled to announce that the Heart Research Institute has been awarded almost $500,000 by the National Breast Cancer Foundation, co-funded by Cancer Institute NSW, to develop a new treatment that could protect the hearts of breast cancer patients - without compromising their cancer care.

More than half of all breast cancer patients receive doxorubicin-based chemotherapy. It's one of the most effective treatments available. But at higher doses, it can cause irreversible heart failure - forcing clinicians to cap treatment and leaving patients facing an impossible trade-off.

Our team at HRI’s Heart Muscle Laboratory, led by Professor Julie McMullen, is working to change that. The research brings together a world-class multidisciplinary team spanning cardiovascular biology, oncology, bioengineering, chemistry and clinical medicine.

The goal? A future where breast cancer patients receive the most effective treatment possible, without sacrificing their long-term heart health.

Thank you to the NBCF for this incredible vote of confidence — and to the patient advocates whose voices shaped every aspect of this work.

🔗 Read the full story: https://www.hri.org.au/the-latest/news/hri-awarded-almost-500-000-to-protect-hearts-of-breast-cancer-patients

of Sydney, of Technology , O'Brien Lifehouse Research Institute

A multidisciplinary team is developing a dual-purpose therapy to kill cancer cells while shielding the heart from toxic chemotherapy.

24/08/2026

Have you ever wished you could do more for medical research?

On Wednesday 9 September, you don’t need a lab coat to make a difference.

HRI is joining more than 30 medical research institutes for Australia's inaugural Medical Research Giving Day. You can be a hero for HRI and support life-saving research into cardiovascular disease. https://www.medicalresearchday.org.au/hri

All donations on Wednesday 9 September will be DOUBLED thanks to generous matching partners.

Together, we can help accelerate the discoveries that will improve lives for generations to come. https://www.medicalresearchday.org.au/hri

24/08/2026

🔬 Meet the Team: Dr Siân Cartland

Dr Siân Cartland, Head of HRI's Cardiovascular Immunotherapy Lab, studies how the immune system can drive dangerous inflammation in atherosclerosis and peripheral artery disease - or be redirected to repair vascular tissue. Her team has even identified a cancer drug that could be repurposed to help grow new blood vessels in tissue with poor blood flow.

Siân has recently been awarded a $450,000 NSW Health grant to investigate how to improve the work of immune-regulating cells in controlling inflammation.

We profile Siân and her work here: https://www.hri.org.au/the-latest/news/meet-the-team-dr-si%C3%A2n-cartland

Dr Siân Cartland is Head of the Cardiovascular Immunotherapy Lab at the Heart Research Institute (HRI). Her team investigates how immune cells, particularly macrophages, drive inflammation in atherosclerosis and peripheral artery disease (PAD), with the aim of developing new, targeted…

21/08/2026

At our latest Heart to Heart seminar, we welcomed our largest audience yet to hear two vascular researchers and an aged care leader on why vascular ageing is emerging as a common thread linking heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer's disease.

Associate Professor Yanfei （Jacob） Qi, Head of HRI's Cardio-metabolic Lipidology and Lipidomics Laboratory, challenged the assumption that diet and exercise alone are enough. His lab has identified a protein called ORP that ferries cholesterol into blood vessel walls, driving atherosclerosis, pointing to a new approach to blood vessel health beyond existing cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Professor Jennifer Gamble of the Centenary Institute shared her team’s discovery that "leaky" blood vessels in the brain may be one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease - appearing before the amyloid plaques it's best known for. Her team's new drug repairs this leakiness and, in lab models, cleared amyloid plaque after a single dose, with clinical trials hoped to begin within four to five years.

Jad Haber, Founder and CEO of My Guardian - Aged & Disability Care, brought the aged care perspective, describing healthy ageing as a "cocktail" of cardiovascular health, frailty, mobility and mental health. Jad made the case for care providers to become "prevention providers."

Missed it live? Watch the full recording here: https://www.hri.org.au/the-latest/news/heart-to-heart-vascular-ageing

Our next Heart to Heart turns to women's health, and will feature Professor Mary Kavurma's research into menopause and heart health. Details coming soon.

At the Heart Research Institute's latest Heart to Heart seminar on 18 August, more than 130 people registered to hear from three experts on how our blood vessels age, why that process is increasingly linked to heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer's disease, and what these discoveries could mean not.....

13/08/2026

In August 2018, Alan Crawford became the first person in the world to receive a donor heart kept alive in a portable box and screened by angiogram before transplant.

For years, Alan's undiagnosed atrial fibrillation had been building towards a crisis - first a stroke, then heart failure, then three defibrillators, with dozens of literally heart-stopping episodes. By 2018, doctors had given him weeks to live. The heart that saved him would normally have been discarded, but the new angiogram screening technique proved it was healthy enough to use.

Eight years on, Alan walks 10,000 steps a day, needs no defibrillator, and has watched his grandchildren grow up into adults. He now gives back to HRI as a donor. In his words: "If all this research hadn't happened, I would have been dead 25 years ago."

Read Alan's story and find out how you can support cardiovascular research: https://www.hri.org.au/stories/alans-story-without-research-i-would-have-been-dead-25-years-ago

06/08/2026

HEALTHY AGEING AND YOU 🗓️

What affects our risk of stroke, heart disease, or dementia as we get older? The health of our blood vessels may hold some of the answers.

Join our next Heart to Heart seminar to learn more.

Date: Tuesday 18 August 2026
Time: 5:00pm-7:00pm (panel begins 5:30pm)
Location: In person at 7 Eliza Street, Newtown 2042, or Online via TEAMS
Register your free spot at https://www.hri.org.au/the-latest/events/heart-to-heart-seminar-11

Hear from two leading researchers and the CEO of one of Australia's leading aged care providers. Learn how our blood vessels age, and how this process has been increasingly linked to a range of conditions, including heart disease, stroke, and even Alzheimer's.

Hurry, spaces are limited for this free event. Register early and book your spot. https://www.hri.org.au/the-latest/events/heart-to-heart-seminar-11

31/07/2026

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