NOVEL THERAPIES & NEXT-GEN MEDICAL DEVICES IN CARDIOVASCULAR & VASCULAR DISEASE MANAGEMENT
With
Professor Shirley Jansen AM
The Lawrence-Brown Chair of Vascular Surgery,
School of Population Health,
Curtin University &
Head of the Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery,
Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital &
Director of the Heart and Vascular Research Institute,
Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Western Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Perth, Australia | June 2026
Professor Shirley Jansen AM is a distinguished vascular and endovascular surgeon whose career spans clinical leadership, academic excellence, and pioneering research. She currently holds the Lawrence-Brown Chair of Vascular Surgery at Curtin University’s School of Population Health and serves as Head of the Department of Vascular Surgery at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, a role she has held since 2015. In addition, she is the Director of the Heart & Vascular Research Institute at the Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research. Her early career was marked by prestigious fellowships, including a British Heart Foundation Research Fellowship (1996), and multiple international travelling fellowships from leading surgical societies and industry sponsors between 2001 and 2002.
Professor Jansen has over 20 years of experience treating vascular disease and has played a vital role in shaping healthcare policy, and clinical standards. She has been Site PI in over 50 clinical trials in pharma, device, first in man, RCTS and registries, many global and leading to changes in practice. She has over 150 peer-reviewed publications, including chapters in key surgical textbooks. Her research has attracted over $14 million in funding, supporting groundbreaking work in biologic therapeutics, vascular medicine, and international clinical trials.
Professor Jansen is Co-Founder and Director of Atherid Therapeutics Pty Ltd developing a novel first in class therapeutic to remove cholesterol and lipid from the arterial wall in atherosclerosis with inventor A/Prof Juliana Hamzah, Head of Targeted Drug Delivery, Imaging and Therapeutics Lab, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research. S Jansen’s other main research interest is in the mechanical impacts on the vessel wall as it relates to arterial disease and intervention, and the development of 3D bioprinted vascular devices with her colleague A/Prof Elena Juan Pardo, an expert in bioengineering at the Perkins.
Source: Supplied
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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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Muscle Cell Communication and Repair
Dr. William Roman is a Group Leader at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) at Monash University. He obtained his PhD from Paris Descartes University and Freie University of Berlin, focusing on nuclear positioning during skeletal muscle development. Dr. Roman’s research journey has taken him across the globe, including postdoctoral work in Barcelona, tissue engineering in Lisbon, and a brief stint at Stanford University.
At ARMI, Dr. Roman leads innovative research on intercellular communication within muscle organs. His work involves growing human muscles on chips to understand how skeletal muscle cells interact with neurons and tendons. This research aims to develop better models for studying muscle diseases, drug screening, and even applications in cellular agriculture and biorobotics.
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Role of Community Paramedicine in Non-Emergency Presentations
Dr Robbie King is a Lecturer in paramedicine and researcher at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) Brisbane. He also continues to provide clinical care as a registered paramedic for community members served by a jurisdictional ambulance service. Dr King has gained significant experience working in an advanced practice, community paramedic style role, holding expert clinical insight into the nuances of paramedic-led community-based healthcare for non-emergency presentations. This often involves adopting a biopsychosocial approach, rather than following the biomedical model more associated with emergency medicine and paramedic culture.
