A/Professor David Winlaw heads Kids Heart Research and works closely with the Neurogenetics Research Unit. The Kids Heart Research team consists of clinical and scientific staff to bring together their complementary strengths. Our group is focused on translational research with a strong scientific base.

 

Our research aims to understand the causes of congenital heart disease and to improve in therapeutic outcomes in children with congenital heart disease. The need for research in this area is clear. Congenital heart disease affects 1 in 100 newborn babies and is the leading cause of death from birth defects during infancy. Problems range from simple ‘holes in the heart’ to complex malformations where important parts of the heart are absent or not properly developed.

 

Using a DNA bank established by A/Prof David Winlaw and Kids Heart Research, we are working to identify gene mutations that cause congenital heart disease. We are also investigating how these genes fit into the pathways involved in formation of the heart as babies develop. Understanding the genetic causes is a fundamental step towards supporting the genetic counselling and follow-up of patients with congenital heart defects.

 

Our research into improving surgical outcomes is facilitated by a heart function laboratory. This is equipped with state-of-the-art systems and models to investigate aspects of heart function relevant to human heart disease and corrective surgery.

 

We have in vitro models to look at contractile function of individual heart muscle cells and whole hearts. These are being employed to analyse mechanisms of injury resulting from ischemia and reperfusion and the effect of gene knockout using transgenic mice. A large animal model using sheep has also been developed. This very closely represents the conditions of human heart surgery and the use of cardiopulmonary bypass in particular. We are investigating the relationship between the use of bypass, ischemia, swelling and the reduced heart function that is known to occur following human heart surgery.

 

The Kids Heart Research basic science team includes: Dr David Winlaw (Head), Dr Tanya Butler (Postdoctoral Scientist), Dr Giorgia Esposito (Postdoctoral Scientist), Carol Au (PhD student), Dr Jon Egan (PhD student), Joanne Hawkes (Technical Assistant), Gina Walizada (Research Assistant).

 

If you would like to know more about us and our research projects please follow the link to Kids Heart Research or contact us at kidsheart@chw.edu.au