Initiatives and funding
Medicine for healthier lives and transformative discoveries.
The CVMM Theme provides competitive grants for projects that identify and seek to address areas of unmet needs in improving cardiac, vascular and metabolic medicine outcomes in the communities we serve. Our grants also allow opportunities for emerging researchers to lead and develop smaller projects with the potential to feed into larger funding opportunities.
Now Open
CVMM International Speaker Fellowship:
The Steering Committee of the UNSW CVMM Theme is inviting academics affiliated to the theme, to submit an application to invite and host an International Expert working in the area of Cardiac, Vascular or Metabolic Medicine to visit UNSW Sydney in Australia in 2025.
The purpose of this scheme is to bring the best and brightest experts to UNSW to strengthen existing or establish new collaborations with researchers affiliated to UNSW. We further welcome and encourage connection with our broader CVMM academic community and are particularly interested in speakers who can deliver a faculty-wide, in-person lecture, sharing their cutting-edge insights and experiences with our students and faculty.
Applications close 14 November 2025.
2024 CVMM Collaborative Grant (up to $30,000):
The Grant aims to support the initiation of new collaborations among scientists and clinicians from various disciplines and faculties. This grant is designed to provide early- and mid-career researchers with opportunities to lead and develop innovative projects, showcasing a clear pathway towards securing substantial external funding for the continued growth and sustainability of research efforts.
| Recipients | Affiliation | Grant Title |
|---|---|---|
Dr. Meghan Ambrens Prof. Kim Delbaere |
Neuroscience Research Australia | StandingTall-Rehab: Co-designing a Comprehensive Digital Rehabilitation Program for Enhance Patient Management and Rehabilitation Outcomes |
Dr. Reza Argha A/Prof. Sze Yuan Ooi |
Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering | Affordable Analysis of Electrocardiogram Data Using Transfer Learning and Weak Supervision |
A/Prof. Susann Beier A/Prof. Kaleab Asrress |
School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering | Supervised machine learning to detect coronary artery and aortic valve calcification on routine chest X-rays (CAC-X) |
Dr. Md Shajedur Rahman Shawon Dr. Jennifer Yu |
Centre for Big Data Research in Health | Discovery of high-need, high-cost cardiovascular patient phenotypes using Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) models |
A/Prof. Kavitha Muthiah Dr. Vanathi Sivasubramaniam |
St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney | Molecular and genetic effects of sodium glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors on cardiac tissue |
Dr. Sonali Gnanenthiran Prof. Anthony Rodgers |
The George Institute for Global Health | LOTUS Trial: LOw dose anti-hypertensive combinations To improve stroke oUtcomeS |
Dr. Chai-Ann Ng Dr. Elizabeth Palmer |
Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute | Improving the treatment of ventricular arrhythmia by targeting the cardiac calcium channel |
CVMM International Speaker Fellowship:
This fellowship is dedicated to inviting and hosting international experts in the field of cardiac, vascular, and metabolic medicine to visit UNSW Sydney. The purpose of this program is to bring the most exceptional and accomplished experts to UNSW, contributing to the enhancement of existing collaborations or the establishment of new partnerships with researchers affiliated with UNSW.
Round 1
Recipient |
Speaker |
Affiliates |
Talk Topic |
|---|---|---|---|
Prof Diane Fatkin |
Prof Steven Niederer |
Alan Turing Institute |
Multi-Scale Patient-Specific Cardiac Models Based on Clinical Data (September 2024) |
A/Prof Jodie Ingles |
Prof James Ware |
Imperial College London |
Polygenic Determinants of Monogenic Cardiovascular Disease (May 2024) |
A/Prof Ruth Peters |
Prof Jeff Williamson |
Wake Forest Center for Healthcare Innovation |
Cognitive Decline and Hypertension (March 2024) |
Round 2
Speaker |
Affiliates |
Talk Topic |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Prof Jamie Vandenberg | Prof Tina Vilsbøll | Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark |
1. Cardiovascular Benefits of GLP1 agonists 2. Utilisation of incretins as therapeutics (1 November 2024) |
| Prof Anthony Rodgers & Prof Alta Schutte | Dr Michael Rakotz | American Medical Association | Challenges and opportunities in achieving a step change in hypertension control in Australia – lessons from the USA (25 November 2024, register here) |
| Prof Bruce Neal & A/Prof Sradha Kotwal | Prof Ewout Hoorn | Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands | Potassium in chronic kidney disease: reconciling controversies (15 November 2024, register here) |
| A/Prof Belinda Parmenter | Prof Mary McGrae McDermott | Deputy Editor of JAMA
|
Pharmaceutical and lifestyle medicine for cardiovascular disease with a focus on peripheral artery disease; AND her career trajectory to Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University and Deputy Editor of JAMA (14 November 2024, register here) |
2024 CVMM Early to Mid-Career Researcher Conference Award (up to $2,000):
Recipient |
Affiliates |
Conference |
Talk Topic |
|---|---|---|---|
Osvaldo Contreras |
Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute |
Biomolecular Horizons Congress |
Time-resolved multi-omics illustrates the complex impact of DNA replication stress on chromatin integrity and pluripotency loss |
Lauren Houston |
The George Institute for Global Health |
72nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand |
Risk of cardiovascular disease in female cancer survivors: a population cohort study using linked Australian health datasets |
Jeanette Villanueva |
Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute |
The 30th International Congress of The Transplantation Society |
Improving donor heart preservation with funnel web spider venom and the anti-diabetic drug Empagliflozin
|
Vivian Lee |
The George Institute for Global Health |
71st International Joint Congress of the International Society of Obstetric Medicine (ISOM) and the Society of Obstetric Medicine of Australia and New Zealand (SOMANZ) |
Investigating opportunities to prevent Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus after Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: the DIVINE-NSW study. |
Isaballa Tan |
The George Institute for Global Health |
International Society of Hypertension Scientific Meeting |
Listen to Your Heart and Mind: A feasibility study on combined screening of raised blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, cognitive impairment and hearing loss |
Katrina Kissock |
The George Institute for Global Health |
Preventive Health Conference |
Developing a strategy to scale-up potassium-enriched salt use to prevent cardiovascular disease |
Past Awards
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2023 Collaborative Grants
Principal Investigators
Affiliates
Project Title
Professor Tracie Barber; Dr Blake Cochran
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering/Faculty of Engineering; School of Biomedical Science
Creating an in vitro model using printed vessels to assess endothelial cell signalling in patients treated with haemodialysis (Creating IMPACT)
Dr Vivian Lee ; A/Prof Belinda Parmenter
The George Institute for Global Health; UNSW
Using wearable activity monitors to increase physical activity in women with a recent history of gestational diabetes – A cross-over randomisation trial.
Dr Juliana de Oliveira Costa; Dr Tamara Milder
UNSW School of Population Health; St Vincent and Garvan
Improving the use of cardiometabolic medicines in type 2 diabetes: an atlas to identify areas of unmet clinical need
Dr Justin Phan; Dr Reza Argha; Prof Jamie Vandenberg
Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute; UNSW; VCCRI
Machine learning-based electrocardiographic analysis to predict cardiac toxicity in patients undergoing cancer treatment.
Dr Isabella Tan; Prof Aletta E Schutte; Ms Catherine Morgan; Prof Mridula Sharma; Prof Henry Brodaty
The George Institute for Global Health; UNSW; National Acoustic Laboratories; Macquarie Uni; UNSW CHeBA
Listen to Your Heart and Mind (Hypertension and hearing loss)
Dr. Jordan Thorpe; Dr Shafagh Waters; Dr Adam Hill
Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute; School of Biomedical Science; VCCRI
Tackling rheumatic fever induced atrial fibrillation and heart failure in indigenous communities utilizing stem cell derived atrial cardiac tissues.
Dr Luna Xu; A/Prof Yulei Sui
School of Population Health; School of Computer Science and Engineering
Cardiovascular risk prediction: a robust deep learning approach to guide healthy eating
2023 CVMM Early to Mid-Career Researcher Conference Award (up to $2,000):
Recipient
Affiliates
Conference
Talk Topic
Dr Monique Bax
Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
71st CSANZ Annual Scientific Meeting, Adelaide, Australia
Proteomic analysis reveals TGFB pathway perturbation in spontaneous coronary artery dissection patient iPSC derived endothelial cells
Dr Cheryl Carcel
The George Institute for Global Health
The Joint Annual Scientific Meeting of The Stroke Society of Australasia and Smart Strokes, Melbourne
Inequity in stroke trials
Dr Briar McKenzie
The George Institute for Global Health
The Nutrition Society Irish Section Conference, Ireland
Investigating sex and gender differences in diet, and the diet related burden of cardiovascular disease
Dr Celine Santiago
Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
71st CSANZ Annual Scientific Meeting, Adelaide, Australia
Using zebrafish to solve 'missing pathogenicity' in genetic cardiomyopathies
Dr Md Shajedur Rahman Shawon
Centre for Big Data Research in Health, UNSW
71st CSANZ Annual Scientific Meeting, Adelaide, Australia
Regional differences in the rates and impact of care fragmentation following myocardial infarction admission
Dr Yunjia (Carmen) Zhan
Biomedical Sciences, UNSW
Australian Atherosclerosis Society Annual Meeting 2023, Adelaide
A novel strategy for reducing future events in myocardial infarction survivors
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2021 Networking Grants
Recipient Affiliates Project Title Dr R Arnold & Dr C Sandler School of Health Sciences; Thde Kirby Institute Can digital cardiovascular initiatives be applied to Chronic Kidney Disease: A cohort of disproportionate cardiovascular risk? Dr J Snaith The Garvan Institute; St Vincent's Hospital A novel online tool to diagnose double diabetes using biomarkers: towards cardiovascular risk reduction by personalised adjunctive treatment of insulin resistance in type 1 diabetes 2021 Big Ideas Grants
Recipient Affiliates Project Title A/Prof X Feng & Prof A Schutte UNSW School of Population Health; The George Institute for Global Health Uptake and effectiveness of a UNSW Lifestyle Clinic exercise physiologist intervention for improving physical activity and reducing high blood pressure: A pilot randomised controlled trial A/Prof A Henry & Prof A Patel School of Women's and Children's Health DIVINE: Drug InterVention for prevention of type 2 diabEtes among women with recent prior gestational diabetes – a proposal for formative research Dr L Lin & Prof M Parsons Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research; Sydney Brain Centre Clinical and imaging characterisation of stroke in First Nations, Pacific Islander, and other culturally and linguistically diverse Australian communities Dr Yu & A/Prof B Gallego Luxan South East Sydney Local Health District; Centre ofr Big Data Research in Health Cardiovascular Analytics and Innovation (CVAI) data repository: A big data resource for machine learning-enabled research and health systems quality improvement.