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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Genetics of the choroid and impact on eye health
Dr Samantha Lee is a Senior Research Fellow at Lions Eye Institute and the University of Western Australia. Dr Lee obtained her PhD in 2017 and the Queensland University of Technology and has since been working on the genetics and environmental causes of various eye diseases, with a focus on glaucoma and myopia. She has published 57 full-length scientific papers and her work has been cited over 1,000 times. She serves on the Editorial Board for the journal BMC Ophthalmology and Scientific Reports, and on the Research Advisory Committee for the Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia.
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Dr Lisa Melton
RESEARCH IN SANFILIPPO
@ SANFILIPPO CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA -
Prescribing exercise to regional population with cardiovascular disease & diabetes
Associate Professor Gordon’s research is aimed at determining the optimal methods of prescribing and implementing exercise as part of the health care plan for people with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Specifically, he is leading work to determine if and how the components of exercise can be considered as a whole for prescribing exercise to generate health benefits. This is important to overcome the series of barriers that people living in rural and regional areas experience when trying to become active.
