Baird News

Prof. John O’Sullivan, Dr. Koay, Prof. Lal, Prof. Bannon and Dr. Rob Hume

Baird Institute researchers have published two new papers in high impact international journals on exciting breakthroughs.  Discover more about these papers below:

1. Prof. John O’Sullivan, Dr Koay, Prof. Lal, and Prof. Bannon have discovered for the first time ever that the human heart can make its own rescue fuel called ketones. They have also demonstrated how to augment this process to improve cardiac function in heart failure. Using genetic models, human heart tissue, human heart cells, isotope tracing, and “trans cardiac” blood sampling (comparing blood going into blood leaving the heart), they identified how the machinery in this process is mechanistically involved. They will now screen new potential compounds as potential new therapies for patients. This work is in press at Circulation Research, one of the world’s top cardiology journals.
2. Dr Rob Hume, Associate Professor Sean Lal and visiting University of New South Wales medical student, Mr Matthew Cook, have recently published a review in the journal Heart. This publication, entitled ‘Transcriptional, proteomic and metabolic drivers of cardiac regeneration’, explores the current understanding of how the heart muscle grows during development, from the embryo to the adult. It also covers how the heart muscle has a limited ability to regrow following injury, a process known as cardiac regeneration. Importantly, it covers new strategies researchers are using to amplify cardiac regeneration, to heal hearts damaged by heart attacks (myocardial infarction). This research area is of particular interest to Dr Hume and A/Prof Lal, who are currently working on developing such therapies to regenerate damaged hearts and reverse heart failure.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science (Hons I) from the University of Sydney and working for Dr Grant Parnell as a research assistant at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research, I have pursued a PhD to follow my passion for advancing medical research under the supervision of the Baird Institute’s Lead of Translational Research, Dr Robert Hume, and with the invaluable support of The Baird Institute.

A healthy circulatory system is essential for overall well-being, yet genetic and environmental factors can lead to vascular damage or blockages, resulting in life-threatening conditions. These complications often impair major organs and limbs due to insufficient delivery of nutrients and oxygen. To repair damaged vessels, surgeons often replace arteries with synthetic alternatives made from materials such as Dacron and Gore-Tex. However, these existing options often fail in the long term due to inadequate mechanical and physiological properties.

My research focuses on developing a degradable vascular graft designed to regenerate damaged vessels, ultimately restoring optimal blood flow and reducing life-threatening complications. If successful, these grafts could revolutionise vascular surgery by providing an ‘off the shelf’ solution that promotes natural vessel regeneration, mimicking the structure and function of a healthy vessel.

I am honoured and sincerely thankful to The Baird Institute and its supporters for the scholarship, and I am committed to producing high-quality research that advances vascular graft technology and improves health outcomes for those with cardiovascular disease.

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital hosts a cardiac surgery database, which contains details on the demographics, risk factors pre-operative status, procedure, post-operative outcomes and short-term outcomes of each patient. This database has been the source of numerous studies in the past, and plays a crucial role in clinical audit, activity tracking and monitoring surgical performance. However, this database only tracks patients for 30-days after their surgery.

Knowing what happens to patients in the medium (1-5 years after surgery) and long term (>5 years after surgery) is very important, as surgeons and researchers strive to continuously improve survival outcomes, and quality of life for their patients. For instance, the effects of procedural aspects such as prosthesis choice in valve replacement, are only apparent 5 years after the procedure. Despite the well-defined need, there is a relative lack of long-term data on surgical outcomes, nationally and internationally.

With funding and support from The Baird Institute, our project aims to link this database to a larger database of all hospitalisations, emergency presentations and mortalities in NSW called CheReL. This will allow the researchers to study long-term outcomes for specific sub-groups of coronary surgery, aortic surgery, valve surgery, and other smaller, but important sub-groups such as elderly patients, and patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who are undergoing myectomy. Valuable data on outcomes such as mortality, readmission to hospital, subsequent cardiac reinterventions and readmissions for cardiac failure will be obtained from this project. Having recently received the linked data, data analysis on the specific subgroups has now begun.

Knowledge of long-term outcomes of cardiac surgery can directly impact clinical decision making, affecting the interventions to be performed, and the timing and post-operative management of the interventions. The improvement in decision making may lead to benefits in the quality of life and survival for patients.

Based on the long-term data, Dr Matheus Carelli (Cardiothoracic Registrar, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital) presented an abstract on aortic root surgery – a specific sub-group of interest at The Australasian Thoracic Aortic Symposium 2025, in Melbourne on 27th March, 2025.

– Dhairya Vayada, Data Research Assistant

I have been a Cardiothoracic nurse for 26 years, beginning my career in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit at Strathfield Private Hospital. It was there, in 1999, that I had the privilege of working alongside Professor Clifford Hughes and Professor Paul Bannon – an experience that sparked my long-standing affiliation with The Baird Institute.

Over the years, I’ve always appreciated the educational activities supported by The Baird Institute and have happily volunteered my time to assist with their fundraising efforts. As my career progressed into the field of research nursing, my connection to The Baird Institute deepened. Working on clinical trials and research projects supported by the Institute at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, I saw first-hand the incredible impact their work can have on improving outcomes for patients with heart, lung, and aortic diseases.

Supporting The Baird Institute has always felt like a natural and meaningful extension of my professional journey. So, it was with a heavy heart that I left my research role at the end of 2024, following a decision my Partner, Barry, and I made to relocate our family to Caves Beach, just south of Newcastle.

Shortly after, an opportunity arose to officially join The Baird Institute team as Engagement Manager – and I didn’t hesitate. In this role, I’m excited to connect with our generous donors and help coordinate the educational and fundraising events that are so vital to our mission.

I’m truly looking forward to this new chapter, and to meeting many of you along the way.

My name is Lakshay Seth and I am a research assistant who is privileged to be working with The Baird Institute. As a research assistant at the Sydney Heart Bank, I am excited to be working at one of the world’s most comprehensive cardiovascular biobanks. Led by Dr. Sean Lal, our team preserves high-quality human cardiac, aortic, and vascular tissue samples to support global research efforts. My background in Medical Biotechnology and experience in molecular biology, histology, and tissue processing enable me to handle these invaluable tissues with the utmost care. Every tissue sample collected and analysed represents a critical step towards understanding heart disease and the impact of ageing on cardiovascular health, helping to unlock the mysteries of conditions like heart failure and age-related cardiac degeneration.

Through the Sydney Heart Bank, I assist in groundbreaking research on human heart ageing, employing advanced multi-omics approaches and immunohistochemistry techniques to investigate the molecular changes in the ageing heart. This vital research is made possible by the generosity of donors to The Baird Institute, and it holds the potential to improve treatment options for heart disease globally. Our work aims to advance knowledge on heart regeneration and ageing, driving international collaborations and offering hope for future therapies that could save lives.

CFI Surgery was born out of a research collaboration between a trainee surgeon and a biomedical engineer. Driven by a commitment to incorporate techniques commonly used in their clinical work to make surgical training more efficient, objective and affordable.

This team of surgeons, doctors, and engineers are on a mission to transform surgical training for the next generation of surgeons. They accelerate and improve training using advanced imaging and automation tools for assessment and feedback. They aim to relieve the administrative and operational burden of training from senior surgeons so that they may focus on the important task of passing on their knowledge and expertise.

STCH is an all-inclusive kit containing all the materials and equipment to construct and assess 20 simulated anastomoses. (When performing a coronary artery bypass a heart surgeon uses an anastomosis to connect one of your arteries to a new channel with better blood flow). Completed anastomoses are scanned, and algorithms are used to provide a quantitative measure of the anastomotic narrowing, flow resistance and suture placement accuracy of the trainee surgeon.

We recently supported Dr Cistulli and Dr. Carelli from the Cardiothoracic Department of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital to take part in CFU Surgery’s training program and they give an account of their experience below.

Dr David Cistulli, Senior Cardiothoracic Registrar, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

CFI Surgery’s STCH platform is an immersive training tool designed to simulate coronary anastomosis, a critical step of coronary artery bypass grafting. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to train with this platform as a junior doctor at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. During my training, I performed 20 coronary anastomoses, which were subsequently analysed by the CFI Surgery team using computed tomography imaging and 3D flow modelling. The feedback provided was detailed and highly constructive, helping refine my skills. I would like to thank The Baird Institute for their generous support in making this invaluable experience possible.

Dr. Matheus Carelli, Cardiothoracic Registrar, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

Surgical training is undergoing changes in Australia and around the world, especially in Cardiothoracic Surgery, so having the opportunity to participate in simulation training is extremely beneficial.

My experience with CFI Surgery’s STCH was excellent. The simplicity and portability of the CFI platform makes using it effortless. I performed 20 coronary artery anastomoses simulations which were very realistic. The feedback that I got from the CFI CT imaging analysis and the simulations was constructive and informative. On top of that, my skills and progress during the study were critiqued by senior Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Professor Paul Bannon. The feedback was extremely valuable and has certainly improved my skills as a surgeon. I am very grateful to The Baird Institute for their support and their goal to improve surgical training.

The Baird Institute recently provided me with a generous Travel Grant to attend Tromsø Aorta 2024, a biennial international meeting of aortic physicians and surgeons, scientists, and geneticists with a shared passion for improving the lives of patients and families affected by conditions of the aorta. This three-day conference was a joint meeting from the IRAD (International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection) and the GenTAC Alliance (Genetically Triggered Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and Cardiovascular Conditions).

Delegates from across the globe travelled to the Arctic Circle and convened in Tromsø Norway. During the IRAD Program, we heard about novel CT and MRI imaging techniques, evidence-based models of care for patients with acute aortic dissection, and surgical and endovascular approaches to aortic dissection management. Three important prospective clinical trials currently running in Scandinavia, the UK and the USA, studying the early use of endovascular treatment of uncomplicated type B aortic dissection were also presented.

In the GenTAC Program a large focus was on the research into and growing understanding of the genetic landscape of aortic disease, the importance of genetic testing and its vital role in the provision of personalised care. Important aspects of clinical practice were also covered, including exercise after aortic dissection and pregnancy in women with aortic disease. Burgeoning technologies were explored such as the emerging role of AI in risk prediction for aortic dissection, and facial recognition technologies to assist physician assessment of patients with undiagnosed aortic clinical syndromes.

The meeting also provided me the unique opportunity to create connections with like-minded health providers, with whom new international collaborations have already begun. It was also a great pleasure to catch up with my teacher, mentor and friend Professor Alan Braverman (pictured), who trained me in aortic disease during a Fellowship at Washington University, and colleagues from other leading aortic institutions in the USA, including internationally renowned aortic geneticist Dr Dianna Milewicz (also pictured).

I’m grateful to The Baird Institute for their generous support and am excited to continue my work here in Sydney and across Australia in improving the health care and lives of patients and families affected by aortic conditions.