Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), also known as “stiff” heart failure, accounts for approximately 50 per cent of heart failure. However, there are currently no effective treatments for the condition.
Dr Yann Ng, Postdoctoral Fellow with the Cardiometabolic Disease Group at HRI, has won a 2023 CVRN-VCCRI Research Innovation Grant for her project “Investigating calcium regulation and adrenergic responsiveness in HFpEF severity”.
The Grant will allow Dr Ng to build on the team’s previous research findings that repletion of oxidised nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) leads to better cardiac energy generation. The mechanism by which this improves relaxation of the heart in HFpEF is not yet understood, so this new project aims to explore this process further.
This significant project will help advance the search for an effective treatment for HFpEF and is a collaboration between the Cardiometabolic Disease Group led by Prof John O’Sullivan; Dr Sean Lal, Clinical-Academic Cardiologist, The University of Sydney, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital; and Dr Rob Hume, Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Sydney.
The CVRN-VCCRI Research Innovation Grant is in its third year and sees the NSW Cardiovascular Research Network partnered with Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute to provide early to mid-career researchers access to the VCCRI Innovation Centre, which features state-of-the-art equipment and technologies, plus a grant worth $5,000.
