Life-saving heart research

Can aspirin be safer for heart attack patients?

Aspirin is a blood-thinner used to treat heart attack patients.

Blood thinners reduce the risk of heart disease. But they can also cause internal bleeding. It’s a fatal risk.

Research led by Dr Philip Adamson will determine how long to give aspirin to heart attack survivors, helping to reduce the risk.

Read about the research

What are Kiwi kids eating?

We need realistic solutions to improve the diets of New Zealand children.

But there’s a problem – we don’t know what they’re eating.

Dr Helen Eyles wants to find out. Her research aims to discover how much sodium and potassium Kiwi kids eat.

From this, she’ll develop ways to improve children’s diets and reduce the long-term risk of heart disease.

Read about the research

Can heart tissue valves last a lifetime?

Heart tissue valves only last about 15 years.

Patients with them need multiple replacement surgeries this can lead to complications. What if the valves could last a lifetime?

Dr Steve Waqanivavalagi will use his funding to find out if it's possible. He makes heart valves in the lab and hopes to make the valves last a patient’s lifetime – reducing the need for surgery.

Read about the research

Picking up on kidney damage

If your heart gets damaged, your kidneys can too because they work closely together.

For 50% of patients admitted to hospital with heart failure, it’s hard to know if they had kidney damage before or after their heart event.

Dr Lassé has been awarded a grant to find out how to measure past kidney function by looking at a single hair. This research will benefit all Kiwis. Heart failure is a leading cause of hospitalisation for adults over 65 in New Zealand.

Read the research

Rheumatic fever vaccine looks promising

The vaccine would target Strep A infections, which can lead to acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.

Dr Jacelyn Loh has been awarded funding to continue the research. The vaccine could protect our most at-risk children here in New Zealand.

Three other vaccines are in trials, but they may not provide protection against strains seen in New Zealand. Strains can vary between countries, so what works in the United States may not work here.

Read the research

Reducing confusion around carbs

Research into the quality of carbohydrates will give Kiwis clearer advice about what to eat.

Dr Reynolds received a three-year fellowship to carry out the research. There’ll be a focus on managing heart disease and type 2 diabetes, although the results will be important for all New Zealanders.

The work will help to inform the marketing of foods and food labelling in New Zealand.

Read about the research