One Australian dies every 27 minutes from a broken heart (more than 50 Australians every 24 hours)! Usually this is a result of a heart attack which damages the heart's muscle. Damaged heart muscle weakens the heart so that it is no longer able to pump enough blood around the body to sustain life. This type of broken heart kills thousands of Australians and costs our health system more than $1 billion every year. This is not only a major problem in Australia but also in other developed and developing countries worldwide.



For decades researchers have been searching for a solution to this problem. Currently the only cure is to have a heart transplant, which can restore a person's quality of life and even let them get back to work. This truly demonstrates the power of modern day medicine! However this approach is severely limited by a critically insufficient supply of donor hearts. With an aging population (in Australia and many developed countries worldwide) the gap between the number of hearts needed and the number of donor hearts available is a growing problem.

An alternative approach to having a heart transplant is to have an artificial heart implanted. Artificial hearts replace the part of the heart that is damaged and basically function to keep someone alive.  These devices are also prohibitively expensive, require rechargeable batteries to operate, and do not restore quality of life the same way a transplanted heart would. Therefore another approach is desperately needed.

In my area of research I am interested in studying the ability of heart stem cells to repair damaged heart muscle after injury. This is a logical approach which involves using a patient's own stem cells to repair their heart. Recent clinical trials have shown that using stem cells to repair the heart is safe and has the potential to improve heart function. The figure below shows that cells from different parts of the body (bone, fate, muscle, etc.) have been tested for their ability to repair damaged hearts. In my research group we work with stem cells that come from the heart itself. Based on recent clinical trial data heart stem cells are a promising candidate to be used for fixing damaged hearts. However there is much more work to be done in this area of research before any robust therapy may be developed.


One of the challenges is to produce a large number of stem cells (billions of cells) that can be used to replace damaged muscle.  In my research I have used cutting-edge time-lapse imaging and single cell tracking technologies to identify the best conditions in which to grow these heart stem cells. What I have discovered is a 'recipe' (a cell culture medium) for obtaining a 400% increase in the number of heart stem cells compared to our previous methods. Below you will see a time-lapse video of heart stem cells growing over a period of 4 days (images are 15 minutes apart). This video shows cells that have been cultured using the 'recipe' that I have developed through my research:



What do I need your support for?
I am trying to get over to the US so I can present my discoveries on growing heart stem cells at a big international conference.  I'll also be visiting some of the world's best research laboratories to learn what the experts know about stem cells. So by supporting my campaign you will be helping me spread the word to the world about my research, as well as helping me to develop the skills and experience I need to extend my research. All I need is a bit of support from you (a bit of your pocket money) to make this happen...

Please keep reading below to find out more about my campaign - and make sure you have a look over on the right to see how you will be rewarded for your support! Also...DON'T FORGET to go further down the page and have a look at 'Some of my other work' to get all the details on the  research that I do and why it's important!

What's this conference about and why am I going?
Basically if this campaign is successful I will have enough money to get to the US and pay for this conference in October 2015 - http://meetings.cshl.edu/meetings/2015/stem15.shtm.... This conference will bring together leading scientists and engineers working from universities around the world including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Yale, Max Planck Institute, and the Weizmann Institute. I will be representing the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (check out my group's research) and the University of New South Wales (check out some of my work at UNSW).

This meeting focuses on basic stem cell biology and the dynamic interactions between stem cells and their local environment or 'niche'. Topics will include the mechanisms controlling stem cell proliferation, differentiation, pluripotency and reprogramming. Emerging concepts about the regulation of multipotent cells during early embryo development, tissue regeneration and tumor progression will be emphasized. The research presented at this conference will be the newest and most-cutting edge research in the stem cell field. By attending this conference I hope to gain new insights and learn about new opportunities in the field. When I return to the Victor Chang Institute I will be able to apply what I have learn to extend my own stem cell research.  

What will I present at the conference?
In the stem cell group at VCCRI we are studying a population of heart (cardiac) stem cells. We would like to understand the function of these cells in the heart and their potential role in repairing the heart after injury. My research has focused on using time-lapse imaging and single-cell tracking to identify how to stimulate growth of these cells. By studying single cells and exposing them to combinations of 'growth factors' I was able to formulate a 'recipe' that produces 400% more more stem cells than our previous methods (using serum-based culture systems). This figure shows the increase in the number of population doublings over time using 'my recipe' (for each population doubling the number of stem cells doubles!)



Generating large numbers (billions) of stem cells addresses an important issue in using stem cells to regenerate the heart after injury. When a heart is damaged (e.g. by a heart attack) a large number (billions) of cells are damaged and need to be replaced. Therefore by generating a higher number of stem cells there is a better chance of replacing the damaged cells. This is an important area of research because there is currently no satisfactory solution for people with damaged hearts.

The funds that I raise will be used to cover the following expenses:

Flights and other transport - $2000
Conference registration  - $1200
TOTAL - $3200.