Cardiovascular

The vast bulk of the cardiovascular research effort at UNSW takes place under the auspices of two main groupings of researchers, the Centre for Vascular Research (CVR), which has a large presence on campus and at several clinical schools, and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI), an affiliated medical research institute based on the St Vincent's Clinical School campus. These two organisations liaise and collaborate extensively with each other and with outside bodies and researchers, but for ease of presentation are discussed separately here.

Centre for Vascular Research (CVR)

http://www.cvr.net.au/

CVR's original purpose was to bring together scientists and physicians to research the causes and treatment of occlusion of the blood vessels. The majority of heart attack, stroke and lower limb gangrene is due to thrombosis in a segment of blood vessel narrowed by atherosclerosis. Despite major advances, these processes are still responsible for half the number of deaths in Australia and for premature morbidity. Atherosclerosis, vessel response to injury and thrombosis remain core research areas in the centre.

Over time, the discovery of common mechanisms underlying biological processes has resulted in a number of projects providing insights into other pathologies. In particular, some of the CVR's most successful projects have revolved around angiogenesis and, inevitably, new vessel formation in cancer. Hence, anti-angiogenic strategies to inhibit tumour growth and also inflammation have become major focuses for the centre.

CVR has eight research groups within UNSW and links to partner laboratories in Canberra and Melbourne universities.

Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI)

http://www.victorchang.com.au/

VCCRI conducts research into all forms of heart disease, but in particular, it is the only research institute in Australia with a primary focus on heart muscle diseases. These diseases cause heart failure, a condition that limits the heart's ability to pump sufficient blood around the body to match its needs.

Established in 1994, the VCCRI has grown rapidly and today runs five research divisions (Cardiac Physiology and Transplantation, Developmental Biology, Molecular Cardiology and Biophysics, Molecular Genetics and Structural and Computational Biology), overseeing 14 independent research laboratories that will soon be housed in a new purpose-built state-of-the-art facility. These programs address important contemporary problems, such as heart development and congenital heart disease, inherited heart diseases, and heart failure and hypertrophy, as well as related basic issues including gene regulation, epigenetics, structural biology and bioinformatics, and ion channel and receptor structure and function.