Research Themes

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI):

• Development of new valve delivery strategies
• Front-line involvement in the evolution, design and development of first-in-man trials and translational research programmes including new valve therapies/protocols

Percutaneous transcatheter cardiac therapeutics:

• New drug-eluting stent designs
• Drug eluting stents in acute myocardial infarction and complex coronary anatomy
• Intravascular ultrasound assessment of coronary structure
• Percutaneous catheter-based treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
• Haemodynamic evaluation of indeterminate and intermediate severity coronary lesions
• Radial artery access for complex coronary intervention
• Optical coherence tomography imaging of coronary arteries

Arterial function and dysfunction in health and disease, and in developing the concept of “ventriculo-vascular” interaction:

• Central haemodynamics and coronary perfusion
• Work on aortic pressure wave propagation, clinical applicability of assessment of arterial function and association of metabolic disorders with arterial properties
• Association of metabolic disorders, especially diabetes and other insulin resistant states with arterial function
• Non-invasive device technology for assessing central blood pressure

Coronary physiology:

• Arterial mechanical properties and their influence on coronary blood flow regulation. Coronary artery pressure and flow relationships in coronary artery disease

Cardiac computed tomographic imaging:

• Translational research programmes investigating the appropriateness and applicability of new CT imaging technologies in cardiology
• The role of dynamic cardiac CT imaging in the management of acute chest pain syndromes, including volume imaging with 320-multislice cardiac CT in assessing structural and functional coronary artery disease and myocardial perfusion
• The use of cardiac CT imaging to reduce time to diagnosis in patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain syndromes
• Cardiac CT in the management of paediatric and adult congenital heart disease
• Cardiac CT “One Stop Shop” – cardiac function and structure from CT imaging

New therapies in cardiac surgery:

• Minimally invasive cardiac surgery with robotic assistance (especially mitral valve repair surgery)
• Use of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in the surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation
• Mechanical support of the circulation

Clinical Trial Program

MCRC/MonashHeart is active in:

• 1st in human studies
• Percutaneous techniques in structural heart disease
• Renal denervation in resistant hypertension