BETTER BIOMARKERS FOR PREDICTING THE INCIDENCE OF HAVING ATHEROSCLEROSIS AND HEART ATTACKS
With
Associate Professor Christina Bursill
Co-Director, Vascular Research Centre,
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) &
Department of Health and Medical Science,
The University of Adelaide, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Adelaide, Australia | April 2025
Associate Professor Christina Bursill started as Co-director of the Vascular Research Centre in January 2017 at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and at The University of Adelaide, Department of Health and Medical Science. She currently holds the Lin Huddleston National Heart Foundation fellowship and is a Chief Investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Biophotonics (CNBP).
Assoc Prof Bursill is a vascular biologist with interests and expertise in vascular inflammation, atherosclerosis and angiogenesis. She completed her PhD at The University of Adelaide in lipid metabolism then headed to Oxford University for five years to undergo a postdoctoral post in the Departments of Cardiovascular Medicine and Pathology. Her postdoctoral time triggered her interest in the mechanisms that cause atherosclerosis and in particular the role of small inflammatory proteins called chemokines.
Assoc Prof Bursill returned to Australia in 2007 at the Heart Research Institute (HRI) in Sydney where she led the Immunobiology Group. In 2008, she was awarded a National Heart Foundation Career Development Fellowship. At the HRI A/Prof Bursill developed an interest in high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and through NHMRC and National Heart Foundation funding, investigated novel mechanisms of their action in models of stent biocompatibility, diabetes and wound healing. She also has an interest in using viral gene transfer techniques to over-express proteins that attenuate chemokine activity to suppress atherosclerosis and inflammatory-driven diseases. A/Prof Bursill currently holds NHMRC Ideas, Heart Foundation Vanguard and Diabetes Australia Millenium grant funding.
Recently, Christina has been focusing on finding ways to reduce atherosclerotic heart disease.
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0682-8760
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Next generation nanomedicine and radiopharmaceuticals to treat cancer
Finding better ways of treating cancer, aside from finding a cure, aim to provide a better quality of life for those who suffer from it.
Professor Thurecht’s work focuses on nanomedicine and spans across the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and the Centre for Advanced Imaging, at the University of Queensland in Australia.
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Integrated Oral Health Care
Dr Ajesh George is a Professor of Interprofessional Oral Health in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University (WSU) and Honorary Professor in the School of Dentistry at The University of Sydney. He is a dentist with extensive experience in integrated oral health care and is a renowned expert globally in providing oral health training to non-dental professionals and translating oral health guidelines into their practice. Dr George is also the Director and Co-founder of the “Australian Centre for Integration of Oral Health” (ACIOH) which is a leading national research centre led by WSU in collaboration with various partners including universities, health services and professional organisations.
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Supportive care for people living with or beyond cancer treatment
Dr Hannah Wardill is a Hospital Research Foundation Fellow and lead of the Supportive Oncology Research Group (SORG), in the School of Biomedicine, University of Adelaide and Precision Cancer Medicine Theme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). She is an Executive Board Member of the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer / International Society for Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO) and Chair of both MASCC/ISOO Patient Partnership Committee & the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC) Cancer Symptom Trials (Gut Dysfunction Node; supported by Cancer Australia).
