ENGINEERED PROTEINS TO REPAIR OR REGROW DAMAGED HEART MUSCLE CELLS AND TISSUE
Associate Professor Dan Hesselson,
Head of the Centre for Biomedical AI,
Centenary Institute
Sydney, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Sydney, Australia | July 2026
Associate Professor Dan Hesselson leads the Centre for Biomedical AI at the Centenary Institute.
He is an internationally trained research leader in regenerative medicine, focusing on cells and organs affected by heart disease, diabetes and cancer. His work uses insights from the study of basic regenerative processes to identify novel therapeutic targets for these devastating diseases.
His work with zebrafish, which started at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and was expanded at the Garvan Institute, made significant contributions to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of regeneration in this highly regenerative model system.
At the Centenary Institute, he is focused on exploiting these breakthroughs in basic science to develop new therapeutic strategies using the power of Directed Evolution to generate potent and highly specific biologic drugs.
His research is investigating new ways to repair the heart and improve outcomes for individuals recovering from heart attacks or living with heart disease, aiming to address a critical gap in cardiac care.
While current treatments can manage symptoms, they cannot restore heart function once muscle cells are lost. This irreversible damage is why heart failure remains a leading cause of death worldwide.
Associate Professor Hesselson’s research aims to address this challenge by developing therapies based on engineered proteins capable of repairing or regrowing damaged heart muscle cells and tissue.
Source: Supplied and adapted from Centenary Institute media release (June 2026)
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Optimising Rural Musculoskeletal Health
Adnan Asger Ali is a Director of Accelerate Physiotherapy and PhD candidate at The University of Sydney, where he is researching implementation strategies for musculoskeletal care pathways in rural Australia as part of the PACE-RURAL project.
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Nutraceutical and pharmacological intervention in neurological disorders
Dr Virginie Lam is a neuroscientist and cerebrovascular biologist with over 15 years of research experience, including more than seven years post-PhD. She co-leads the Neurovascular and Metabolic Diseases Laboratory at the Curtin Medical Research Institute and holds an affiliate appointment at the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science. Her research focuses on the interface between neurovascular health, cognitive function, and therapeutic translation in neurodegenerative disorders.
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Interventions for improving outcomes of children who are deaf or hard of hearing
Professor Teresa Ching is a Conjoint Professor at NextSense Institute and Macquarie University, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland in Australia. Her current research focuses on devising culturally sensitive practices in early detection and intervention to maximise children’s outcomes. Working with international colleagues, her current research is also directed towards developing global guidelines and recommendations for hearing screening beyond the newborn period, so that all children can benefit from early detection and intervention. The ultimate goal is to attain equity of care and outcomes for all children with hearing difficulties.
