Research Grant Recipients 2025
Research funding recipients awarded in 2025, commencing projects in 2026
The Heart Foundation continues to support impactful cardiovascular research across Australia, generating new knowledge, building research capacity, and driving innovation to improve heart health.
This year’s funded projects span diverse areas including precision medicine, stroke recovery, biomedical engineering, digital health, and community-led prevention. Many have the potential to inform future clinical practice and public health approaches, while also fostering new collaborations and advancing novel technologies.
With the support of our generous donors, we are proud to invest in research that contributes to meaningful progress in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart disease.
For any enquiries, please contact the Research Program team at [email protected].
Recognising our 2025 grant recipients and the reviewers who made it possible
The Heart Foundation Research Advisory Committee would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to all recipients of funding in the Heart Foundation’s 2025 funding round. Your projects represent outstanding contributions to advancing cardiovascular research, and we’re excited to see the outcomes of your work.
We also wish to sincerely thank all our reviewers for your tremendous effort throughout this process. Your time, expertise, and thoughtful consideration, especially amidst busy schedules and competing priorities, have been invaluable. Your commitment ensures the ongoing integrity and impact of our grants program. Without your contributions, we would not be able to run our program and continue supporting the best research and brightest researchers.
Thank you for helping make this funding round a success.
Future Leader Fellowship
The Future Leader Fellowship program aims to support the best and brightest in cardiovascular research. It supports aspiring leaders who are developing independence and their own research portfolio, through to established leaders of cardiovascular research groups with extensive research programs.
Explore Level 1 funded projects
| Grant ID | Researcher | Administering Institute | State | Research Category | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110333-2025_FLF | Niamh Chapman | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Clinical, Public health, Health services | Improving hypertension management in primary care |
| 109973-2025_FLF | Alexandra Jones | University of New South Wales | New South Wales | Public health | Strengthening the use of law to reduce diet-related diseases in Australia |
| 109807-2025_FLF | Rebecca Kozor | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Clinical | Genetic cardiomyopathies – improving diagnosis, mechanistic insights, and evaluating new therapies |
| 110369-2025_FLF | Nitesh Nerlekar | Monash University | Victoria | Clinical, Public health | Leveraging mammograms for the early identification of cardiovascular risk: a 2-for-1 benefit using established screening programs |
| 109309-2025_FLF | Holly Voges | Murdoch Children's Research Institute | Victoria | Biomedical | Improving Rheumatic Heart Disease treatment with a novel stem cell model of heart valve tissue |
Explore Level 2 funded projects
| Grant ID | Researcher | Administering Institute | State | Research Category | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 109825-2025_FLF | Caleb Ferguson | University of Wollongong | New South Wales | Clinical | COORDINATE-CVD - a program to enhance care transitions for older adults with complex cardiovascular multimorbidity |
| 109570-2025_FLF | Marita Hefler | Flinders University | South Australia | Public health | Improving heart health by reducing commercial tobacco availability: a First Nations community-led and co-designed approach |
| 109451-2025_FLF | Nicole Nathan | The University of Newcastle | New South Wales | Public health, Health services | Advancing the science of sustainment for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention: identifying determinants, mechanisms, and strategies to enhance the long-term implementation of CVD prevention programs |
| 109484-2025_FLF | Sonia Shah | The University of Queensland | Queensland | Biomedical | Leveraging genomics for equitable cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment |
Explore Level 3 funded projects
| Grant ID | Researcher | Administering Institute | State | Research Category | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110071-2025_FLF | Renjing Liu | Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute Limited | New South Wales | Biomedical | Decoding Menopause-Driven Aortic Aneurysms: Unveiling Mechanisms to Predict and Prevent Rupture |
| 109373-2025_FLF | John O'Sullivan | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Biomedical, Clinical | Rewiring metabolic inflammation to rescue cardiometabolic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction |
| 109362-2025_FLF | Jelena Rnjak Kovacina | University of New South Wales | New South Wales | Biomedical | Engineering Next-Generation Aortic Valves with Biomimetic Silk Materials |
Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Postdoctoral Fellowship program is aimed at early career researchers and seeks to identify the strongest emerging Australian talent in cardiovascular research who have just completed or are nearing completion of their PhD studies. Successful Postdoctoral Fellows will have a demonstrated strong track record during their PhD and will be working towards gaining recognition for expertise in their research area.
Explore Postdoctoral Fellowship projects
| Grant ID | Researcher | Administering Institute | State | Research Category | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110538-2025_PDF | Jonathan Ariyaratnam | University of Adelaide | South Australia | Clinical | Treating Subclinical Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction to Improve Outcomes in Atrial Fibrillation |
| 110527-2025_PDF | Angela Xun Nan Chen | University of New South Wales | New South Wales | Clinical | Sodium Glucose Co-transporter-2 Inhibition to Prevent Earliest Events of Heart Failure (SOLVE-HF): A pilot randomised controlled trial |
| 110321-2025_PDF | Pooranee Morgan | The University of Melbourne | Victoria | Biomedical | Understanding how oxidative lipid damage in ferroptosis drives atherosclerosis |
| 110375-2025_PDF | Elise Needham | Murdoch Children's Research Institute | Victoria | Biomedical | Mapping causal drivers of dilated cardiomyopathy for targeted therapies and drug repurposing |
| 110456-2025_PDF | Benjamin Parmenter | Edith Cowan University | Western Australia | Biomedical, Public health | Can Higher Flavonoid Diversity Keep the Doctor Away? |
| 110346-2025_PDF | Justin Ren | The University of Melbourne | Victoria | Clinical | Total Arterial Revascularisation in Coronary Bypass Surgery: Investigating Practice Patterns and Clinical Outcomes of an Australian-Pioneered Technique |
| 110537-2025_PDF | Cheng Hwee Soh | The University of Melbourne | Victoria | Clinical, Public health, Health services | Combining a Survivor-Specific Risk Score and Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Electrocardiography for Detection of Subclinical Cardiac Dysfunction in Cancer Survivors |
| 110335-2025_PDF | Ingrid Stacey | University of Western Australia | Western Australia | Public health | Cardiovascular measures to guide policy and practice for First Nations populations: time to close the data gaps |
| 110452-2025_PDF | Hannah Stevens | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Victoria | Clinical, Public health | A Balancing Act: Personalising Stroke and Bleeding Risk in Atrial Fibrillation |
| 110207-2025_PDF | Susan Paudel Subedi | Deakin University | Victoria | Public health | Bridging the Gap: Co-Designing a Physical Activity Intervention for Cardiovascular Health Equity Among South Asian Mothers and Children in Australia |
| 110466-2025_PDF | Vivian Tran | La Trobe University | Victoria | Biomedical | Targeting interleukin 18-mediated gamma-delta T cell activation to treat abdominal aortic aneurysm. |
Postgraduate Scholarship
The Postgraduate Scholarship provides funding to support successful applicants to attain a research-based postgraduate degree (Doctor of Philosophy or Master’s Degree by Research). The scholarship will support outstanding graduates early in their careers so they can be trained to conduct cardiovascular research that is internationally competitive.
Explore Postgraduate Scholarship projects
| Grant ID | Researcher | Administering Institute | State | Research Category | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110806-2025_PGS | Wade Bocking | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Biomedical | Investigating the Application of a Novel Biodegradable Blood Vessel Graft to Regenerate Damaged Arteries |
| 110670-2025_PGS | Jacob Cao | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Clinical | Mechanistic and Epidemiological Evaluation of Long-Term Complications in Patients with a Fontan Circulation |
| 110834-2025_PGS | Yiyao Chen | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Biomedical, Clinical | Coding the Shield Under Shear: AI-facilitated Mechanomedicine discovery and mRNA Targeted Delivery for Personalised Anti-thrombotic Treatment |
| 110790-2025_PGS | Peter Emerson | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Biomedical | A novel anticoagulant therapy for the prevention of cardioembolic stroke |
| 110844-2025_PGS | Francis Ha | Monash University | Victoria | Clinical | Examining the effects of pulsed field ablation on epicardial adipose tissue in patients with atrial fibrillation. |
| 110550-2025_PGS | Shaun Khanna | University of New South Wales | New South Wales | Clinical, Public health | Epicardial adipose tissue in heart failure: a potential marker of risk and response to cardiometabolic therapy |
| 110827-2025_PGS | Beryl Lin | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Victoria | Public health, Health services | Improving cardiorenal outcomes in type 2 diabetes: real-world implementation and population-level impact of SLGT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists |
| 110829-2025_PGS | Emilia Nan Tie | Monash University | Victoria | Clinical | Haemodynamic and metabolic determinants of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. |
| 110820-2025_PGS | Sarang Paleri | Monash University | Victoria | Biomedical | IMPACT-AI: IMaging to Personalise coronary Artery disease management using Computed Tomography and Artificial Intelligence |
| 110558-2025_PGS | Danielle Robinson | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Victoria | Biomedical | Developing a novel multifunctional thrombolytic for the treatment of stroke |
| 110848-2025_PGS | Sheran Vasanthakumar | Monash University | Victoria | Clinical | Breast arterial calcification informed, enhanced cardiovascular risk assessment and management |
First Nations CVD Grant
This First Nations CVD Grant aims to support projects focused on producing high-impact improvements in cardiovascular health among First Nations people. It also includes funding for an introductory research role specifically for a First Nations individual, who will be mentored by the project's Chief Investigator. The goal is to encourage and sustain First Nations researchers within the cardiovascular health research community.
Explore First Nations CVD Grant projects
| Grant ID | Researcher | Administering Institute | State | Research Category | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110692-2025_FNC | Bryce Brickley | Flinders University | South Australia | Public health | Exploring the role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men's groups in cardiovascular health promotion in very remote Australia |
| 110845-2025_FNC | Ray Mahoney | Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) | Australian Capital Territory | Public health | Strengthening the effectiveness, scalability and sustainability of the Remote Laundries intervention |
Vanguard Grant
The purpose of the Vanguard Grant is to provide funding to test the feasibility of innovative concepts in clinical, public health and/or health services (including clinical service delivery) or biomedical research which may lead to larger, more rigorous studies in the future. Both pilot studies and ‘stand-alone’ projects will be considered. These projects are expected to produce tangible outcomes with the potential to further advance preclinical research technology or improve cardiovascular health.
Explore Vanguard Grants projects
| Grant ID | Researcher | Administering Institute | State | Research Category | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110612-2025_VG | Beth Allison | Monash University | Victoria | Biomedical | Targeting Neonatal Cardiac Fibrosis in Growth Restriction: A Preclinical Study of Postnatal Pirfenidone Therapy |
| 110721-2025_VG | Cheryl Carcel | University of New South Wales | New South Wales | Clinical | INTERACT 4 Expansion: a feasibility study to diagnose intracerebral haemorrhage in the ambulance using a blood-based biomarker |
| 110585-2025_VG | Joyce Chiu | University of New South Wales | New South Wales | Biomedical | Reducing Reperfusion Injury Post-Ischemia Infarction by Targeting Neutrophil Infiltration |
| 110763-2025_VG | Jonathon Fanning | The University of Queensland | Queensland | Clinical | PuMPS Vanguard Pilot: a randomised trial of pulsatile versus continuous flow cardiopulmonary bypass in high-risk cardiac surgery |
| 110544-2025_VG | Hannah Keage | University of South Australia | South Australia | Clinical | Conquer-AF: co-producing a psychological intervention for Atrial Fibrillation patients |
| 110540-2025_VG | Nicholas Lam | Heart Research Institute | New South Wales | Biomedical | Direct induction of cytokinesis in multinucleated cardiomyocytes to treat heart failure |
| 110570-2025_VG | Hannah Law | CSIRO | Australian Capital Territory | Clinical, Health services | Skin Testing at the Point-of-care to Prevent Infections of Group A Strep & Acute Rheumatic Fever |
| 110601-2025_VG | Lana McClements | University of Technology Sydney | New South Wales | Biomedical | Revolutionary FKBPL-targeting therapy strengthens vasculature: paving the way for breakthrough peripheral artery disease treatment |
| 110725-2025_VG | James McFadyen | The University of Melbourne | Victoria | Biomedical, Clinical | Developing a novel diagnostic device for monitoring haemostasis and platelet function to predict bleeding and thrombosis risk for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation |
| 110660-2025_VG | Julie McMullen | Heart Research Institute | New South Wales | Biomedical, Clinical, Health services | Novel blood biomarker of atrial cardiomyopathy to prevent recurrent stroke |
| 110411-2025_VG | Joseph Moxon | James Cook University | Queensland | Biomedical | Using medical imaging and in situ proteomics to characterise the ischaemic penumbra in models of minor and severe acute ischaemic stroke |
| 110614-2025_VG | Jonathan Noonan | The University of Melbourne | Victoria | Biomedical, Clinical | Abatacept (CTLA-4-Ig) mediated T cell inhibition for preserving cardiac function following myocardial infarction |
| 110546-2025_VG | Jessica Orchard | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Clinical | Hearts In FOCUS: Feasibility Of Cardiac screening Using Sport in young Indigenous people in remote northern Australia |
| 110518-2025_VG | John O'Sullivan | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Biomedical | Targeted immunometabolic therapy for heart failure recovery |
| 110727-2025_VG | James Otton | Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute Limited | New South Wales | Clinical | AI Enhanced Coronary Calcium CT Scan for Improved Cardiovascular Risk Prediction |
| 110578-2025_VG | Luke Perry | Monash University | Victoria | Clinical | Vanguard phase for a multicentre, pragmatic, Bayesian adaptive, co-designed, noninferiority trial of pulmonary artery catheters vs. central venous catheters in cardiac surgery (PUMA-2) |
| 110709-2025_VG | Karlheinz Peter | The University of Melbourne | Victoria | Biomedical | mRNA-Based Immunomodulatory Nanoparticles as a Therapeutic Strategy for Post-Stroke Recovery |
| 110677-2025_VG | Graeme Polglase | Monash University | Victoria | Biomedical | Optimising vasopressor therapy during cardiopulmonary resuscitation of asphyxiated newborns. |
| 110706-2025_VG | Peter Psaltis | University of Adelaide | South Australia | Clinical | "Attack on the Clones": How does clonal haematopoiesis influence atherosclerotic coronary artery disease after myocardial infarction? |
| 110610-2025_VG | Rebecca Raeside | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Public health | Health4MePLUS: a novel smartphone application to improve cardiovascular health and mental wellbeing of adolescents |
| 110479-2025_VG | Jelena Rnjak Kovacina | University of New South Wales | New South Wales | Biomedical | Physiologically relevant tissue-engineered in vitro model of the aortic valve |
| 110645-2025_VG | Shane Thomas | University of New South Wales | New South Wales | Biomedical | Understanding how the gut microbiome promotes cardiovascular disease. |
| 110658-2025_VG | Giselle Yeo | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Biomedical | Functionally-enhanced, secretome-laden, tuneable cardiac patches for myocardial infarction |
Collaboration and Exchange Grant
The purpose of the Collaboration and Exchange Grant is to enable Heart Foundation funded Fellows and Scholars to visit research facilities in Australia or overseas to collaborate and exchange innovation and knowledge. This grant aims to strengthen the recipient’s research capacity.
Explore Collaboration and Exchange Grant projects
| Grant ID | Researcher | Administering Institute | State | Research Category | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110846-2025_C&E | Dion Candelaria | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Health services | Using Global Advances in Artificial Intelligence to Personalise Cardiac Rehabilitation |
| 110837-2025_C&E | Brooklyn Fraser | University of Tasmania | Tasmania | Public health | Learning from world leaders in fitness surveillance and cardiovascular risk prediction: Gaining methodological insights from FitBack and SmartCHANGE, and building collaborations at ISBNPA |
| 110733-2025_C&E | Navid Freidoonimehr | Queensland University of Technology | Queensland | Biomedical | Advancing and presenting a novel hydrodynamic model for coronary spasm diagnosis at ESC 2026 and beyond |
| 110841-2025_C&E | Kylie Hesketh | Deakin University | Victoria | Public health | Building collaboration in early childhood intervention for prevention of cardiovascular risk |
| 110852-2025_C&E | Erin Howden | Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute | Victoria | Clinical | Non-cardiac drivers of CVD risk in cancer survivors |
| 110833-2025_C&E | Yugeesh Lankadeva | The University of Melbourne | Victoria | Biomedical, Clinical | American Heart Association Conference coupled with departmental seminars at the University of Louisville to undertake knowledge exchange and initiate international collaborations. |
| 110707-2025_C&E | Connie Wong | Monash University | Victoria | Biomedical | ISTH2026 conference and lab visit at Università di Bologna |
| 110859-2025_C&E | Yunduo Zhao | University of Sydney | New South Wales | Biomedical | Personalised pulse-driven thrombosis-on-chip: An EPFL–Sydney bridge from mechanobiology to patient-specific diagnostics and drug screening |
Awards for Innovation and Excellence
The following researchers are recipients of this year's awards recognising innovation and excellence.
Shirley E Freeman Award
Dr Shirley E Freeman AM (1924 - 2014) was the first female to receive funding from the Heart Foundation, receiving £1250 in 1961 for her project “Mechanisms of respiratory control in cardiac muscle”. Her work with Dr Paul Fantl on the mechanism of blood clotting led to the development of warfarin.
This award was established in 2021 and is given to the two most innovative female fellowships. This year the award has been offered to:
- Dr Renjing Liu, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute Limited, 2025 Future Leader Fellowship - Level 3, Decoding Menopause-Driven Aortic Aneurysms: Unveiling Mechanisms to Predict and Prevent Rupture
- Dr Elise Needham, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, 2025 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Mapping causal drivers of dilated cardiomyopathy for targeted therapies and drug repurposing
Paul Korner Innovation Award
In memory of Professor Paul Korner, who passed away in 2012, this award is in appreciation of the positive impact his work in tackling cardiovascular disease had on many lives.
This award was established in 2012 and is given to the two most innovative male fellowships. This year the award has been offered to:
- A/Prof Nitesh Nerlekar, Monash University, 2025 Future Leader Fellowship - Level 1, Leveraging mammograms for the early identification of cardiovascular risk: a 2-for-1 benefit using established screening programs
- Dr Jonathan Ariyaratnam, University of Adelaide, 2025 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Treating Subclinical Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction to Improve Outcomes in Atrial Fibrillation
Ross Hohnen Award for Research Excellence
In memory of Mr. Ross Hohnen AM, OBE who passed away in 2003, the Heart Foundation awards the “Ross Hohnen Award recognising Research Excellence” to encourage innovation in cardiovascular research. Ross Hohnen was instrumental in establishing the Heart Foundation in 1959.
This year the award recognises the highest ranked one-year Vanguard Grant application, and has been offered to:
- A/Prof Cheryl Carcel, University of New South Wales, 2025 Vanguard Grant, INTERACT 4 Expansion: a feasibility study to diagnose intracerebral haemorrhage in the ambulance using a blood-based biomarker
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Last updated23 October 2025