The Heart Foundation Research Centre, formally established at Griffith University as a joint venture between the University and the National Heart Foundation in 2003, emerged from the earlier Rotary Centre for Cardiovascular Research. In 2008 the research centre joined the Griffith Health Institute.
The Centre’s mission is to undertake high quality biomedical research in cardiovascular disease, enhancing basic and applied knowledge regarding determinants of health and disease in order to both limit incidence and improve management of the single greatest cause of premature death and loss of productive life in Australia.
The importance of cardiovascular research is underpinned by its prevalence in our society - cardiovascular and associated respiratory disorders remain the nations single leading causes of premature death (40%) and disability. Nonetheless, and paradoxically, cardiovascular research in Australia receives a relatively small proportion of national medical research grants. This makes the role of the Heart Foundation, with which the Centre is affiliated, extremely important.
A sound understanding of biological determinants of both health and disease is required in order to counter the high level of chronic cardiovascular disorders in our modern society. In this respect, we not only examine novel molecular approaches to disease therapy, but also unravel the molecular basis of lifestyle interventions that reduce disease incidence and can also be employed to manage existing disease.
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