Stories

The Heart Foundation is celebrating $100 million invested in research projects and overseas training fellowships, since it began almost six decades ago.

The Heart Foundation has invested $100 million in research and overseas training since it began nearly 60 years ago. That support has helped drive advances in preventing, diagnosing and treating heart disease for people in New Zealand.

New Zealand is leading efforts to tackle rheumatic heart disease, a preventable illness still causing harm here. Decades of research into rheumatic fever are now driving advances, bringing the world’s first effective vaccine within reach.

Sometimes the medical breakthroughs with the biggest impact are simple changes made when people first arrive at the emergency department. Dr Martin Than and team have discovered a way to dramatically speed up the process when people present with chest pain.

Cardiologist and Heart Foundation grant recipient Dr Phil Adamson is working to bring faster, less invasive heart scans to more New Zealanders. Historically, access to cardiac CT scans has been limited, but that’s now changing.

The Heart Foundation’s investment in overseas training for New Zealand cardiologists has helped save thousands of lives. Over more than five decades, we’ve awarded multiple research and training grants that have brought back world‑class expertise to improve heart care in New Zealand.

A major international research effort has kicked off to improve treatment for a rare cause of heart attacks that mainly affects women, with New Zealand playing an important role.

Alongside well-known heart disease risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and smoking, women have some sex-specific risk factors for heart disease.

US $10 million (NZD $17 million) funding will support trial to identify opportunities for earlier heart disease prevention for women.

Heart research is entering a thrilling new era. Advanced technology can pinpoint problems faster, cutting-edge techniques can repair hearts more precisely, and sophisticated diagnostic tools are reshaping how we identify, treat and even prevent heart disease.

A New Zealand study led by Dr Teena Gamage may revolutionise early detection of congenital heart disease in unborn babies, a condition that impacts around 1 in 100 births.

Dr Catherine Tsai is developing an oral or nasal vaccine that could help eradicate rheumatic fever which leads to one of the country’s most persistent and preventable heart conditions, rheumatic heart disease.