About Us

Mission Statement

To be an internationally recognised centre for clinical cardiovascular research and clinical research training.

The Goals of Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre are:

• To provide an unparalleled clinical research environment
• To enhance and develop the work of established clinical investigators
• To foster excellence in clinical research training for young investigators
• To provide an infrastructure to attract external funding

Strategic Overview

The economic cost of cardiovascular conditions including acute and chronic coronary syndromes, cerebrovascular disease, renal disease and heart failure will grow exponentially unless effective strategies are established of targeting treatment, identifying individuals of risk and assessing response. Research into optimal strategies for prevention and treatment of coronary, cerebral and peripheral arterial disease and an improved understanding and assessment of large artery pathophysiology and secondary dysfunction will aid identification of risk, guide choice of appropriate therapy and help assess response to treatment.

The MCRC has a major ongoing commitment to cardiovascular research in the fields of:

Arterial function and dysfunction in health and disease, and in developing the concept of “ventriculo-vascular” interaction:

• Work on arterial transfer functions and aortic pressure wave propagation, clinical applicability of assessment of arterial function and association of metabolic disorders with arterial properties
• Association of metabolic disorders, especially diabetes and other insulin resistant states with arterial function.

Coronary physiology:

• The role of endothelium-derived factors in human coronary vascular control and determinants of metabolic vasodilation in cardiac and skeletal musculature.
• Arterial mechanical properties and their influence on coronary blood flow regulation. coronary artery pressure and flow relationships in coronary artery disease (first human in-vivo demonstration of effect of aortic stiffening on coronary blood flow)

Percutaneous, trans-catheter cardiac therapeutics focused on

• New drug-eluting stent designs
• Drug eluting stents in acute myocardial infarction and complex coronary anatomy.
• Intravascular ultrasound assessment of coronary stent dynamics.
• Antiplatelet and antithrombotic therapies in coronary interventions. 
• Percutaneous catheter-based treatment of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
• Haemodynamic evaluation of indeterminate and intermediate severity coronary lesions
• Radial artery access for complex coronary intervention

New therapies in cardiac surgery

• Minimally invasive cardiac surgery with robotic assistance (especially mitral valve repair surgery)
• Use of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in the surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation
• Mechanical support of the circulation