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| Dr Nold |
MIMR-PHI Institute and Adjunct School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) researcher Dr
Claudia Nold has been awarded a prestigious Heart
Foundation Future Leader Fellowship in the charity’s latest funding announcements.
A pharmacist by training with broad expertise in
cytokine biology, inflammation and immunology, Dr Nold will use the project funding to further her
research into interventional immunology in diseases of the neonate.
“High
mortality and morbidity in premature babies largely arises from three diseases
that modern neonatology struggles to prevent or treat,” said Dr Nold. “I plan
to examine their molecular mechanisms to pave the way to therapies.”
One of the
diseases Dr Nold will investigate is bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a severe
chronic lung disease that causes pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in 25
per cent of BPD patients.
“PAH slowly
destroys the babies’ right heart and has a 2-year survival of less than 50 per cent,”
said Dr Nold.
Intracranial
haemorrhage (ICH) is another common disease in very preterm babies, with a high
mortality rate and most survivors suffer mental retardation.
“The cause
of ICH in premature infants is immaturity of cerebral blood vessels and highly
variable blood pressure, added Dr Nold. “Together with a likely, but yet
unknown impairment of coagulation, these factors lead to intracranial bleeding.”
In a
world-first longitudinal study of poorly charted preterm immune and coagulation
systems, Dr Nold aims to find biomarkers to aid early diagnosis of these
critical diseases.
“I hope to
develop new therapies that improve the lives of tiny patients and their
families, and relieve strained health care budgets.”
The largest
non-government funder of cardiovascular research in Australia, the Heart
Foundation invests
in biomedical, clinical, public health and health services research which
investigates the causes, diagnosis, management and prevention of cardiovascular
disease and related disorders.
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