Heart Foundation invests ‘$1m a month’ to fight heart disease
The National Heart Foundation of Australia is today announcing $12m of funding for cardiovascular research in 2012, of which $4.3m is for new awards.
“Thanks to the generous support of the Australian public, we will next year be able to invest the equivalent of $1m a month in world-class research,” said Dr Lyn Roberts, National CEO of the Heart Foundation.
“Heart disease remains the number one killer of Australian men and women and is responsible for a death every 23 minutes so ongoing research has never been more important,” she said.
The funding will support a total of 225 awards in 2012, including 122 new awards including 19 Fellowships, 16 Scholarships and 37 Grants-in-Aid. Topics of investigation include:
o how the body stores fat and how that process could be controlled to avoid the negative effects of overweight and obesity on heart health
o how to best help family members who have lost a relative to a genetic heart disease understand and deal with the knowledge that they may also be at risk in order to reduce their own risks of heart illness
o ways to better manage cholesterol levels by improving the way we use currently available therapies
o developing an effective anti-smoking message specifically targeted to rural, Aboriginal communities
o investigating the benefits of aquatic programs to treat chronic heart failure, especially for those who have difficulty with more traditional land based exercise programs
Since it was established in 1959, the Heart Foundation has invested more than $240m driving the cardiovascular research effort to improve the heart health of all Australians.