MCRC has a major ongoing commitment to cardiovascular research in the fields of:
- Structural Heart Disease, including:
- Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)
- Innovation in percutaneous transcatheter cardiac therapeutics
- Arterial function and dysfunction in health and disease, and in developing the concept of “ventriculo-vascular” interaction
- Coronary physiology
- Central haemodynamics
- Evaluation of changes in cardiovascular haemodynamics and chamber structure and function
- Cardiac computed tomographic (CT) imaging
- New therapies in cardiac surgery

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