CLINICAL GUIDELINES FOR DIAGNOSTICS AND EARLY INTERVENTION IN PRIMARY ALDOSTERONISM
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Associate Professor Jun Yang (Filmed May 2024)
Head of Endocrine Hypertension Group, Hudson Institute of Medical Research
Consultant Endocrinologist at Monash Health &
Senior Researcher in Department of Medicine at Monash University, Victoria, Australia
Associate Professor Jun Yang is the Head of the Endocrine Hypertension Group at Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Consultant Endocrinologist at Monash Health and Senior Researcher in the Department of Medicine at Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
Yang graduated from Monash University with a MBBS (Hon) in 2001, obtained the FRACP in 2010 and completed her PhD on tissue-selective coregulators of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) in 2013.
She has continued basic and clinical research in the field of MR-driven cardiovascular disease, in particular, primary aldosteronism. Primary Aldosteronism (PA), or Conn Syndrome, is the most commonly under-diagnosed cause of high blood pressure affecting millions of people. Jun’s goal is to facilitate the diagnosis of every case of PA and make treatment widely available to all communities including the disadvantaged.
She established the Endocrine Hypertension Service in 2016 and co-leads the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Primary Aldosteronism.
“My main interest lies in the translation of primary aldosteronism research into revised clinical guidelines, improved diagnostic tools and transformed practice to help patients. In addition, I am identifying the earliest point of disease occurrence with the aim of enabling earlier intervention and return to health”, says Associate Professor Yang.
Together with national and international collaborators, her research program seeks to improve the detection and understanding of primary aldosteronism to achieve improved patient outcomes.
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Novel forms of brain stimulation & psychedelic assisted psychotherapy
Professor Paul Fitzgerald is the Head of the School of Medicine and Psychology at the Australian National University. He is an academic psychiatrist with a MBBS degree, Masters of Psychological Medicine and research PhD. He has conducted an extensive range of experimental studies and clinical trials, focused on the development of novel treatment options for patients with mental health conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, PTSD, autism and Alzheimer’s disease.
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Applying nanotechnology to chronic pain management
Dr Felicity Han is a Research Fellow and Leader in Pain Relief Innovation, at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in the University of Queensland. Dr Han’s research interests sit at the interface of drug delivery and the pain field. Her overarching research goal is to improve the quality of day to day life of patients suffering from chronic pain, by applying nanotechnology to the development of novel highly effective pain-killer products for improving chronic pain management.
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Food and fasting periods as medicine to prevent disease
Professor Leonie Heilbronn is based at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), where she leads the Obesity and Metabolism laboratory. Her research is at the interface between basic and clinical science. She is internationally recognised for her work in nutritional modulation in humans and has made major contributions to our current understanding of mechanisms underlying conditions such as insulin resistance, particularly inflammation and lipid metabolism. She has also contributed significantly to current concepts of caloric restriction (CR), intermittent fasting (IF) and time restricted eating (TRE) in humans. She has published more than 110 peer reviewed papers in scientific journals and is an Associate Editor of Obesity, and Obesity Research and Clinical Practice.
