Wade Bocking
Over the past four months, I have been actively engaged in preparing the foundations for my PhD work, particularly spending time consolidating and expanding my knowledge of vascular regeneration. During this exploration into the literature surrounding vascular regeneration, I have been collaborating with other members of the lab, under the direction of Dr Rob Hume, to prepare manuscripts for future publication.
In regard to activities in the lab, I have been learning new techniques, such as histology (processing vessel tissue) and microscopy, which will underpin my work over the course of the project. With these techniques, I have been steadily processing over 100 samples from the vascular graft study undertaken in sheep, and I hope to have a number of exciting results in the coming weeks. Additionally, I performed mechanical testing on samples related to this project and have subsequently learnt how to analyse this data. Along with this, I have been trialling the Lunaphore COMET, a cutting-edge tool designed to produce images which can give users detailed insights into cell types/interactions and how this may relate to vessel regrowth. While this is still in its early stages, we have already been able to see its potential for future use.
The near future will be fruitful, as I have planned to finish preliminary work on the sheep artery replacement samples, as well as looking more closely at their protein profiles to assess the effectiveness of graft remodelling. Alongside this, the group are also aiming to begin the next phase of our project which involves testing the refined version of the vascular graft.
I would like to take a moment to thank the The Baird Institute and its supporters for this opportunity.
Matthew Taper
I’ve recently been working on a number of projects that build on Dr Cassandra Malecki’s study of ageing. With assistance from the team and collaborators from Monash University, we have completed a study measuring DNA methylation (a biomarker closely linked to ageing) in heart samples across healthy ageing. This will be the largest study of its kind to date, and we are currently analysing the results in preparation for publication.
I also recently completed a comparative study of ageing in the two main pumping chambers of the heart – the left and right ventricles – at the protein level. Preliminary results have revealed several interesting findings with potential clinical implications, particularly since many medications effective in left-sided heart failure have little to no effect on conditions affecting the right side.
To further explore these differences between the ventricles, we’ve started using advanced techniques that allow us to examine not only the properties of individual heart cells, but also how their surrounding environment (the types of neighbouring cells they interact with) changes over time during ageing. This helps us better understand how shifts in cellular interactions might contribute to overall heart function with age.
Bríet Stefánsdóttir
My name is Briet Stefansdottir, and I am a medical student at the University of Copenhagen. Originally from Iceland, I moved to Denmark in 2020 to begin my medical studies. I completed my Bachelor of Science there and am now pursuing my Master of Science, which I expect to finish in 2026.
Alongside my studies, I have been involved in cardiology research, focusing on cardiovascular function and metabolic profile in adolescents born after assisted reproductive technologies. I am also a board member of the Surgical Society for medical students in Copenhagen.
I have decided to specialise in cardiothoracic surgery. I always knew I wanted to become a surgeon, but after seeing my first open-heart surgery, there was no turning back.
In our final year of medical school, we write a master’s thesis in the field we want to pursue. I am truly honoured to be supervised by Professor Paul Bannon and Professor John O’Sullivan, and to have the support of The Baird Institute.
My research focuses on identifying proteomic patterns in aortic tissue from patients with thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA), using samples from the Sydney Heart Bank. TAA are often asymptomatic until they rupture, which is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, current diagnostic methods are limited, and many at-risk patients are not identified before life-threatening complications occur.
Thoracic aortic aneurysms can arise from different causes. Some are linked to genetic syndromes such as Marfan, Loeys-Dietz, Turner or bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). Others run in families without being tied to a known syndrome (familial nonsyndromic TAAD). Many cases, however, are sporadic and typically associated with aging and risk factors such as hypertension, smoking or atherosclerosis.
In this project, proteomic data from healthy aortas will be compared with samples from patients with aneurysms, including sporadic, syndromic and familial nsTAAD.
Our hypothesis is that proteomic patterns differ between aneurysms and healthy controls and may also vary across aneurysm subtypes. By identifying such patterns, we aim to discover new biomarkers that could help detect high-risk patients earlier than current clinical tools allow and therefore decrease the risk of complications. Promising markers can then be validated in large population cohorts, such as the UK Biobank, to assess their predictive value for thoracic aortic aneurysms.
I am truly grateful for this opportunity and excited to spend the coming months in Sydney working on this project. It is a privilege to be part of such an outstanding research group and to contribute to research that may ultimately improve diagnostic methods for thoracic aortic aneurysms, methods that may help save more lives.
I am especially thankful to The Baird Institute and its supporters for making this research possible.
