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Dr Holly Voges, a senior research officer at reNEW Melbourne, based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, has been awarded a Future Leader Fellowship from the Heart Foundation to better understand Rheumatic heart disease (RHD).
Affecting around 40 million people across the globe, rheumatic heart disease causes lasting damage to the heart valves, often resulting in heart failure and death. This condition develops when rheumatic fever leaves the heart valves permanently scarred.
“We will grow models of heart valve tissue from stem cells in the lab, to help identify medicines that could treat patients with rheumatic heart disease.”
Dr Voges said the funding would help advance her research and hopefully prevent early death from rheumatic heart disease in childhood.
In Australia, the burden of rheumatic heart disease falls overwhelmingly on our Indigenous communities, who account for 92 per cent of all cases.
The team are partnering with key First Nation organizations to ensure strong First Nations community and patient input into all aspects of the research program.
The Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship, which supports aspiring leaders, builds on a Heart Foundation Vanguard Grant Dr Voges received last year.
