Cardiovascular and Hormonal Research Laboratory

The Cardiovascular and Hormonal Research Laboratory has a clinical and translational research focus. It investigates the sex differences in heart disease, and examines the measurement and management of blood pressure.

The research lab is positioned within the Kolling Institute at Royal North Shore Hospital, ensuring research progress directly influences clinical care. It also ensures patient experiences inform the direction of research activity.

Our current projects target the following research areas:

1. Understanding how steroid hormone receptors are regulated in the heart
2. Sex differences in heart disease and hypertension
3. Accurate measurement of blood pressure by both equipment validation and education
4. Blood pressure variability and phenotyping hypertension

The Cardiovascular and Hormonal Research Laboratory is led by Dr Anastasia Mihailidou.

Dr Mihailidou was recently recognised by the Lancet with her appointment to the Commission on Cardiovascular Disease in Women. Nationally, her work has informed clinical practice through the development of the Australian Guidelines for Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring.

Dr Mihailidou has been part of the select committee preparing an application for a Medicare rebate for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. The translational focus of the Cardiovascular and Hormonal Research Laboratory has led to both national and international collaborations involving research teams in Egypt, Europe and Hong Kong.

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Dr Anastasia S Mihailidou PhD FAHA FCSANZ

Senior Hospital Scientist, Department of Cardiology
Royal North Shore Hospital
Head, Cardiovascular and Hormonal Research Laboratory, Kolling Institute
Honorary Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine and Health
Macquarie University

• Coalition for Access for Non-Communicable Disease Medicines and Products
• Commissioner, Lancet Commission on Cardiovascular Disease in Women
• Advisory Board of the STRIDE_BP to standardise blood pressure

1. The MASTER study – As part of an international collaboration, the study is investigating the treatment for uncontrolled hypertension based on clinic BP compared to out-of-clinic (ambulatory) BP measurement. Working with her Macquarie University colleagues, Dr Mihailidou is the principal investigator for the only Australian site contributing to this important trial.
2. Complex exercise intervention to normalise blood pressure and its nocturnal dipping in patients with hypertension in Chinese primary care trial. This study is being conducted in collaboration with colleagues in Hong Kong.
3. Understanding the structure and function interaction of the stress hormone cortisol with the steroid hormone receptors in the heart.
4. Maintaining accurate blood pressure measurement skills in a health service in association with colleagues in America and Canada.
5. Collaborating with the Kolling Institute’s Raymond Purves Laboratory, to investigate how osteoarthritis leads to heart disease in women: “bad knees and broken hearts”.

Via ORCHID