INNOVATION GRANT SUCCESS
SHIELDING DONOR HEARTS FROM ISCHEMIC INJURY
Congratulations to Meredith Redd and Louise See Hoe for their successful Innovation Grant from The Common Good Au! The grant will fund research exploring the impact of a peptide that could help shield the heart during an ischemic event.
Heart transplantation remains the gold standard treatment option for patients with end stage heart failure, a disease which burdens over 26 million people worldwide. Despite the growing need for organs, more than 75% of potential donor organs are discarded, as many are injured during organ procurement and storage as well as reperfusion injury in the recipient. Primary graft dysfunction is a major risk for patients in the first 30 days after transplantation and accounts for 66% of patient mortality, of which 48% of deaths are due to ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury.
Chief investigators, Meredith Redd and Louise See Hoe, have been successful in obtaining funding from The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation to explore the use of a peptide from spider venom that could help shield the heart from IR injury. This line of research is aiming to improve the viability of donor organs and increase the heart donor pool available for transplantation, and consequently improve patient survival and quality of life after heart transplantation.
26 million patients with end-stage heart failure.
75% donor organs discarded
48% of deaths due to IR injury
THE COMMON GOOD
The Common Good (aka. The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation) provides extensive assistance in funding the research that is conducted at The Prince CHarles Hospital. For more information on the funding rounds and work that they do please follow the link below.
FIND OUT MORE: https://www.thecommongood.org.au/