Vascular Sciences

Research

The research program of our Vascular Sciences group, led by Professor Barry McGrath and Associate Professor James Cameron, is focused on early detection of atherosclerosis and measuring indices of arterial function, including flow-mediated arterial dilatation, pulse wave velocity, arterial compliance and arterial pressure augmentation (invasively and non-invasively) in at-risk groups, to examine their relationships to biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction, and to establish their clinical relevance as primary causes of, as well as markers for, vascular disease outcomes.

Another key area of research has been the five year placebo-controlled study of the effects of folate on cardiovascular endpoints, atherosclerosis progression and arterial function in patients with end-stage renal disease (the ASFAST study), involving 320 subjects in five centres in Australia and New Zealand. This study has also allowed a comprehensive evaluation of the utility of arterial function measures as outcome predictors.