A handful of babies are born every year in Australia with a condition called hypoplastic left heart . While not common, it's one of the "most severe congenital abnormalities" in babies, according to Professor Richard Harvey.
Professor Harvey is one of 20 senior scientists and clinician-scientists whose research is being supported by the first round of NSW government grants into cardiovascular disease research.Each researcher has been awarded $750,000 over three years out of a pool of almost $15 million in a bid to "turbo-charge" investment in heart disease research, Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
Professor Figtree, who is an interventional cardiologist at Royal North Shore Hospital, said the funding will help build her program, which is looking for new markers that could predict the risk of heart attack in ways doctors and cardiologists cannot. Professor Figtree said the "holy grail" over the next decade would be using biomarkers to also measure improvements in patients.