Congratulations on Vanguard grant for precision heart imaging

Ex vivo scans of hearts from fibrotic (left) and control mice which
were administered a unique fluorescent peptide that targets collagen
type I. A striking enhancement of the damaged heart ventricles
is observed. Image: Figure 5 in study

Dr Be'eri Niego (CIA), Dr Karen Alt (CIB) and Professor Christoph Hagemeyer (CIC) are recipients of a Heart Foundation Vanguard grant announced 6 October. The grant is for $150,000 across two years.

Dr Alt said, "In this project, we aim to develop new peptides, which tightly bind various types of collagen and enable the delivery of imaging contrast agents to the affected heart. This clever approach, also termed 'Molecular Imaging', allows more sensitive imaging and earlier diagnosis of heart conditions."

See all 2022 Vanguard grant recipients at the A+ precinct here.

Vanguard Grant for novel method of measuring oxidative stress in diabetic vascular disease

Dr Tomasz Block explains the utilisation of an immune
cell biomarker to measure oxidative stress in patients
with diabetic vascular disease. See video

Congratulations to Dr Tomasz Block, who has been awarded a Vanguard Grant from the Heart Foundation, for $75,000.

Dr Block is an Advanced Trainee in Endocrinology at Monash Health commencing in 2022 and a current Adjunct Research Associate, in the Diabetes and Kidney Disease (Jandeleit-Dahm) research group in the Department of Diabetes at the Central Clinical School. He will utilise this opportunity to expand on novel clinical research based on exciting preliminary results from a pilot study presented at both national and international congresses.