Innovative heart research funded in Auckland
Tue Aug 23 2016 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Innovative heart research funded in Auckland
23 August 2016
Associate Professor Ralph Maddison
Heart Foundation funding of more than $400,000 to improve cardiac treatments was awarded to University of Auckland researchers today.
Key projects funded include; research into the effectiveness of a mobile phone delivered surgery rehabilitation programme called Text4Heart; a study of cardiac pacemaker technology to improve the efficiency of pacemakers; and a study that screens for structural heart disease among people with atrial fibrillation.
These grants were part of the Heart Foundation’s announcement of $1.5 million in new funding nationally for life-saving research into heart disease - New Zealand’s leading cause of death.
Associate Professor Ralph Maddison received a project grant to test the effectiveness of the Text4Heart programme aimed at helping people with heart disease to make and maintain positive lifestyle changes.
The Text4Heart intervention was designed to educate patients about their cardiovascular risk factors and encourage lifestyle change, and reduces cardiovascular deaths and hospital readmissions by 25 percent.
“But patient attendance at cardiac rehabilitation programmes is minimal, often due to a lack of time or transport to attend centre-based sessions,” says Dr Maddison. “Mobile technology potentially offers a solution.”
This study will determine the sustained effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of this mobile phone delivered programme to enhance self-management of cardiovascular disease compared to usual care.
The cardiac pacemaker study led by Dr Rohit Ramchandra may change the way cardiac pacemakers are used in people with heart disease.
“We have the potential to transform pacing strategies in cardiovascular disease globally,” says Dr Ramchandra from the Department of Physiology at the University of Auckland.
In New Zealand, the new research could benefit more than 80,000 people who are affected by heart failure.
Funding was also awarded to Dr Katrina Poppe (in Epidemiology and Biostatistics) who will use a hand-carried echocardiography tool to assess the prevalence of structural heart disease in people with atrial fibrillation - one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing forms of heart disease.
Heart Foundation Medical Director Gerry Devlin says ongoing research is critical in efforts to reduce deaths from heart disease in New Zealand.
“Research is vital because it allows us to learn more about the causes of different heart conditions, then get better at preventing and treating them. Thanks to our generous supporters, we’re able to continue funding high-calibre research right here in New Zealand.”
He says this year’s applications aligned strongly with the Heart Foundation’s mission to prevent premature deaths from heart disease and offer a better quality of life to those living with it.
“Among the research projects and Fellowships we’re funding, there’s a particular emphasis on reducing inequalities in cardiovascular (CVD) rates – between ethnicities, socio-economic groups, genders, and even between those with and without mental illness.”
Heart Foundation grants to University of Auckland researchers at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences include;
- Associate Professor Ralph Maddison, project grant for “Text4Heart: Enhancing self-management of cardiovascular disease,” $105,116 over 15 months
- Dr Rohit Ramchandra, project grant for “Physiological pacing to improve outcomes in heart failure,” $103,072 over two years
- Dr Katrina Poppe, project grant for “Screening for structural heart disease among people with atrial fibrillation in the community”, $75,000 over two years
- Dr Kenneth Tran, Research Fellowship, $75,000 over three years
- Charlene Mauger, post-graduate scholarship, doctoral study, $26,000 over three years
- Professor Rob Doughty, Heart Foundation Chair of Heart Health, grant-in-aid for purchase of a -80-degree freezer for Heart Health Research Studies, $15,000 over six months
- Professor Rob Doughty, Heart Foundation Chair of Heart Health, small project grant for “Statistical support for analyses from an International Collaborative Study of Outcome for Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction”, $15,000 over nine months
- Dr Marie-Louise Ward, travel grant support to attend the CSANZ meeting in Adelaide from 4-7 August 2016, $2,019 over four days
- Kathleen Gilbert, travel grant to Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference 2016, $2,500 over two weeks
- Two Summer Studentships to the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, $11,000 for 2016/2017.
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