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  • Kolling Research Symposium 2024

    Kolling Research Symposium 2024

    We would like to thank everyone involved in the 2024 Kolling Institute Symposium.

    During the event, a diverse collection of researchers detailed the latest progress with their ground-breaking work into kidney and heart disease treatments, bone and muscle conditions, rare cancers, and neurological challenges. There was a focus too on the innovative work to develop a unique wellbeing index.

    Researchers discussed how they’re tapping into technology to deliver care to large numbers of patients, improving outcomes with the latest heart valve devices and investigating the benefits of reducing multiple medications for older patients.

    The symposium brought together researchers, representatives from our joint venture partners (Northern Sydney Local Health District and the University of Sydney) and a growing network of community partners to celebrate our impactful work.

    Academic Director Professor James Elliott said the event featured thoughtful presentations, panel discussions, poster presentations, and an Oxford Debate on the impact of AI on healthcare. 

    “I would like to thank our guest speakers Professor Susan Morton, Director of INSIGHT at the University of Technology and Lifeline Australia ambassador and wellbeing advocate Matt Caruana who shared his personal experience and inspiring perspective,” he said.

    “The symposium provided an opportunity to hear how our researchers are extending our understanding of complex conditions and improving therapies and outcomes.  

    “It also offered the chance to highlight some special awards for a group committed to increasing access to high-quality care, and improving the health and wellbeing of our broader community.

    “I would like to congratulate the 2024 Kolling Institute award recipients for their remarkable commitment to our research success.” They include:

    PhD Supervision Award
    Associate Professor Sonia Saad
    Department of Medicine, Renal Research Laboratory

    HDR Student Award
    Amanda Purcell
    Renal Research Laboratory

    Discovery Science Award Category A
    Dr Nunki Hassan
    Cancer Stem Cell and Biology Laboratory

    Discovery Science Award Category B
    Dr Sumit Sahni
    Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory

    Professional Staff Award Category A
    Susan Smith
    Raymond Purves Bone and Joint Research Laboratory
    Kolling Histology Core Facility

    Professional Staff Award Category B
    Annette McCook
    Research Development Officer 

    Excellence in poster presentation
    Claire Wong

    Excellence in oral presentation 
    Dr Karan Rao

    “Thank you to the many people involved in bringing this large-scale event together to highlight the remarkable and life changing work underway at the Kolling Institute,” said Professor Elliott.

  • Innovation at the Kolling’s core

    Innovation at the Kolling’s core

    In the heart of the Kolling Institute, a world-renowned research centre, a raft of clinical trials is driving the future of healthcare.

    “Clinical trials are intrinsic to research,” says Professor James Elliott, Academic Director of the institute. “They help us test something so that we can better inform care for patients with various conditions who come to our hospitals for treatment.”

    The Kolling Institute has a strong track record in conducting impactful clinical trials. Notably, it has been involved in running multiple trials for those with heart and kidney disease, musculoskeletal conditions and chronic pain.

    Their cancer trials have made significant contributions across various tumour streams, including pancreatic, haematological, breast, and bowel cancers.

    James emphasises that basic science, discovery and scientific innovation are embedded in the Kolling’s over 100-year history.

    “Often, it is those innovations from our basic science laboratories that ultimately inform the mechanisms by which trials are developed.”

    James adds that understanding the ways diseases work allows researchers to target trials more precisely, leading to better patient outcomes.

    However, the need for trials sometimes outpaces scientific understanding.

    “We can’t always wait for a full understanding of a disease,” James notes. “In some cases, we must move forward with trials to push the needle on patient care, even as we continue to explore the underlying mechanisms.”

    A key advantage for the institute is its proximity to one of Australia’s largest tertiary hospitals, Royal North Shore Hospital. This connection provides access to a vast patient population, which is crucial for conducting large-scale clinical trials.

    “We serve over a million patients,” says James, stressing the importance of their “trial as therapy” culture. “We want patients to expect that they may be invited to participate in a clinical trial or research study as part of their care.”

    The Kolling Institute is a world leader in researching osteoarthritis, musculoskeletal conditions, cancer, neuroscience and pain, and cardiac, cardiovascular and renal disorders. 

  • Special Research Feature – Year in Review 2023

    Special Research Feature – Year in Review 2023

    Our Kolling Institute Year in Review profiles our innovative and life-changing research across the Kolling Institute.

    Our researchers are driving investigations into some of the most challenging health conditions from heart and kidney disease to musculoskeletal conditions, chronic pain, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders.

    Our teams have continued to increase their research impact, while forging significant new collaborations. They have maintained a commitment to research excellence, while securing large-scale funding, receiving high profile awards and publishing impactful studies.

    We hope this feature will give you a better insight into our impressive and unique teams, and their ground-breaking research. We would like to extend our thanks to our many wonderful donors who help us deliver real improvements to the care we all receive. Click here to read the feature:

  • Tapping into our expertise to solve an escalating health challenge

    Tapping into our expertise to solve an escalating health challenge

    A culture of collaboration is a key part of the Kolling Institute’s research impact, and just one example of this is a joint project to reduce the devastating impact of vascular disease linked to diabetes.

    The study has brought together research experts from endocrinology and cardiology to curb the number of lower limb amputations due to peripheral arterial disease.

    Alarmingly, an estimated eight people a day have a lower limb removed because of the disease.

    This trend is expected to continue with an increasing number of people developing diabetes and subsequently a diabetic foot ulcer. It’s estimated more than 530 million people across the globe are living with diabetes.

    Our researchers have launched a study investigating the use of medications to treat diabetic foot ulcers and peripheral arterial disease.

    Mirabegron is one of those medications being tested. It is currently used to treat overactive bladder syndrome, but this research is helping to determine if it could restore dysfunctional blood vessels, improve oxygen and nutrients in the tissue, and help chronic wounds.

    Researcher Cameron Evans, from the Cardiovascular Discovery Group, said Mirabegron works by opening blood vessels and increasing levels of nitric oxide, one of the body’s natural antioxidants.

    “This will help blood vessels and diabetic tissue function normally and heal ulcers,” he said.

    “Importantly, we are testing the medication in a gel form as the concentration of drugs taken orally often isn’t high enough to provide a therapeutic effect.

    “Current treatments include a cocktail of medications or vascular surgery which are costly and carry increased risk.

    “We hope our research will confirm if this medication will reduce amputation, improve quality of life and increase life expectancy.

    “One in five people with diabetes is likely to develop an ulcer, so we could potentially be helping more than 130 million people with our research.”

    The research project has been supported by the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovation PhD grant.

    Cameron said he was tremendously grateful to receive the grant.

    “Working weekends and researching five days is a tough slog, so receiving the grant is an incredible help.

    “It has given me dedicated time to progress our valuable investigations.” 

  • The latest update from the Kolling

    The latest update from the Kolling

    Here’s a snapshot of our latest research at the Kolling Institute and the impact it’s having across the community, from new national guidelines for physios helping those with life-changing spinal cord injuries to a new approach for those with debilitating chronic pain. There’s a focus too on our researchers reducing the physical toll of spaceflight and the latest care for osteoarthritis. 

    Flip through our flipping book for more:

  • Running for game-changing research

    Running for game-changing research

    Less than two years after a breast cancer diagnosis, Professor Gemma Figtree has completed the prestigious Boston Marathon while raising significant funds for cancer research.

    Gemma crossed the finish line in a sub four hour time as part of the talented team running for the internationally renowned Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

    Gemma ran her first marathon just after completing six months of chemotherapy in 2022, so to be accepted into the Boston event was a remarkable achievement.

    “I was really excited to have the opportunity to run in the marathon, but it was particularly an honour to run for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute,” she said.

    “For me to come through chemotherapy, and then qualify to run Boston was a major milestone in itself, and then to be able to run for one of the world’s best cancer research institute’s fundraising teams, was a perfect combination.

    “Running was a crucial part of my recovery, and there’s now increasing evidence around the benefits of exercise for cancer patients from reductions in recurrence, improved mental health and a reduction in the side effects of chemotherapy.”

    Gemma is tremendously thankful to her donors who helped her raise more than $30,000.

    “Philanthropic funding is so important as it often supports early to mid-career researchers or early stage ideas, where there may not necessarily be all the data to succeed with a highly competitive national funding grant. It can be a crucial component in advancing medical research.”

    Gemma hopes there will be further philanthropic funds for her own research program into heart disease and the rise in cases of coronary artery disease and heart attack in patients without the traditional risk factors, like blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and smoking.

    “I’m sure we can learn from some of our cancer colleagues about the drugs that can target specific biological pathways that are driving an individual’s susceptibility or resilience to common disease.

    “This could be particularly relevant for heart disease, with 25 per cent of heart attack patients developing ticking time bomb coronary plaque without the traditional risk factors.

    “We are developing new biomarkers in the blood to help detect early coronary artery plaque before a heart attack, enabling all patients to benefit from effective treatments. These markers are designed to be integrated into clinical pathways that take a stepwise approach to imaging using advanced CT coronary angiography.

    “This would have a game changing impact on reducing heart attacks – because, if we can detect the disease, we can treat it.”

    Imaging of coronary plaque also has an important role in providing a new pathway for novel drugs to prevent heart attack. Gemma is leading an international initiative through the CAD Frontiers not-for-profit: the Atherosclerotic CT Imaging Outcome Consortium: Accelerating Atherosclerosis Drug Development.

    This initiative aims to develop and support a research consortium dedicated to applying advanced computed tomography (CT) imaging to atherosclerosis quantification and responses to therapeutic intervention. Consortium goals are for coronary CT to become an accepted susceptibility biomarker (diagnostic, prognostic and monitoring) and a predictive biomarker (pharmacodynamic and surrogate endpoints) in cardiovascular clinical trials. This would dramatically reduce the cost and time required to develop much needed new coronary artery drugs without reducing the rigor.

  • Strong research pipeline flags positive trend

    Strong research pipeline flags positive trend

    With an increasing focus on our research activity, the Royal North Shore Hospital Scientific Staff Council is keen to celebrate the efforts of some of our emerging leaders.

    It has presented four awards recognising an outstanding commitment to research excellence.

    Kolling Institute musculoskeletal researchers Dylan Ashton and Dr Carina Blaker were joint winners of the best publication award for their paper which identified new tendon allograft options for knee injuries. 

    Carina also took out the outstanding early to mid-career researcher award in the basic science category, while fellow Kolling researcher Associate Professor Rebecca Kozor clinched the outstanding clinical researcher award for her work using high resolution imaging to help diagnose and treat heart disease.

    Dr Katherine Bates received the outstanding research student award for her work on the identification of new biomarkers and risk factors for heart disease.

    Chair of the Scientific Staff Council Dr Sumit Sahni said he was pleased to be able to present the awards to this impressive group.

    “A huge amount of important work goes on behind the scenes,” he said.

    “Many of our researchers are quietly making crucial progress with their research, and it’s wonderful to be able to recognise their remarkable efforts extending our understanding of particular conditions and lifting the standard of care we all receive.

    “The quality of nominations we received was particularly high, making the decisions difficult and highlighting the expertise we have on the Royal North Shore Hospital campus.”

    Carina welcomed the announcement.

    “I was really honoured to receive the award recognising our research and I’m very grateful to the Scientific Staff Council for their ongoing support,” she said.

    “Our research is aimed at broadening our understanding of different tissues so that we can personalise treatment options.

    “We are increasingly seeing that a tailored approach will deliver a better individual fit and a better outcome for patients.

    “I hope this award helps to draw attention to the steady progress we’re making in this field.”

  • Philanthropic support building our research expertise

    Philanthropic support building our research expertise

    A collection of researchers will develop their skills and establish crucial new collaborations following generous funding through the Skipper Charitable Trust.

    Six researchers have received a 2024 Beryl and Jack Jacobs Travel Award, enabling them to travel for conferences and work with experts across the globe.

    Academic Director Professor James Elliott was thrilled to announce the successful recipients, saying each researcher demonstrated how their travel opportunity will broaden their research expertise and lead to exciting new progress.

    Dr Karen Bracken from the Osteoarthritis Clinical Research Group will travel to the University of Bristol to work with the team at the renowned Bristol Trials Centre. There she will gain a better understanding of recent advances in clinical trials, directly supporting her role as a clinical trials program lead.

    Dr Barbara Lucas from the John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research will attend the Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine Conference in Cairns to present her ground-breaking research from the Best START trial into early intervention in children with Cerebral Palsy.

    Dr Vicky Duong from the Osteoarthritis Clinical Research Group will travel to the United States and Canada to work with researchers at Harvard University, the University of North Carolina and the University of Toronto. This is set to be a valuable opportunity for Vicky to expand her international networks following her successful Category I NHMRC funded project in Australia.

    Brian Kim from the Neuromuscular Imaging Research Laboratory will visit the United States to work with colleagues at the Northwestern University in Chicago. Brian is establishing machine learning methods to automatically quantify the soft tissues of the shoulder in patients needing surgical repairs.

    Dr Vibha Patil from the Meniere’s Disease Neuroscience Lab will travel to Spain to build on her work into the genetics of Meniere’s Disease, a debilitating disorder of the inner ear.

    Amanda Purcell, a PhD student in the Renal Laboratory, will also travel to Spain and the UK to further her studies around predicting gestational diabetes in early pregnancy. Amanda is set to learn cutting-edge techniques, complementing her growing knowledge in this field and strong analytical skills.

    Professor Elliott said these opportunities would not be possible without the financial boost delivered through the Skipper Charitable Trust.

    “I would like to thank the family behind the trust for their wonderful ongoing support of our early and mid-career researchers,” he said.

    “Their help is directly strengthening our research expertise and increasing our long term impact.”

  • Bad knees might cause broken hearts

    Bad knees might cause broken hearts

    Exciting research is set to get underway investigating a ground-breaking approach to reduce osteoarthritis associated heart disease.

    Kolling Institute researcher Professor Chris Little will lead the project after receiving a highly competitive National Health and Medical Research Council Ideas grant of close to a million dollars.

    Professor Little and Dr Cindy Shu from the Raymond Purves Bone and Joint Research Lab will collaborate on the novel study with Kolling heart disease researcher Dr Anastasia Mihailidou and Professor Anthony Ashton from the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research in the USA.

    Professor Little has welcomed the significant funding, saying it follows years of specialised work in this field.

    “We’re very excited about this research and we’re hopeful it may make a big difference,” he said.

    “We have known about the link between osteoarthritis and heart disease for many years, with those experiencing osteoarthritis twice as likely to develop heart disease as those without the painful joint condition.

    “We had thought the conditions were linked because they shared the same risk factors like age, obesity and a lack of exercise, but our recent research has showed for the first time, that there might be a biological connection where the joint disease might actually be causing heart disease.

    “Our team found that if we induced osteoarthritis in one knee of a mouse that was otherwise fit, young and healthy, within 16 weeks that mouse had evidence of heart disease.

    “We then went onto show that if you take serum from these mice or a patient who has diseased joint tissue from a knee injury like a cruciate ligament tear, that serum caused heart cells to become sick.

    “We were able to identify a group of factors (micro-RNAs) that were released into the blood from the joint tissue that were causing this.”

    The new research project funded through the NHMRC will now investigate which specific micro RNAs are contributing to the development of heart disease.

    “If we can define which factors released into the blood are the most important, we may be able to help develop a new diagnostic tool for heart disease and potentially stop osteoarthritis contributing to cardiovascular disease,” Professor Little said.

    “Our research could lead to both a diagnostic test as well as a therapeutic target. It could change the health advice around risk factors for heart disease.

    “Our grant success highlights the breadth of expertise we have at the Kolling and the impact of collaboration, where we have researchers specialising in different fields coming together to identify new avenues to research.

    “It’s certainly one of the great things about working in the Kolling.

    “I would like to acknowledge the crucial preliminary work undertaken by Dr Cindy Shu, and the earlier financial support from the Raymond E. Purves Foundation and the Hillcrest Foundation through Perpetual Philanthropy.”

    There was further good news for the Kolling with musculoskeletal researcher Dr Jillian Eyles receiving a prestigious $660,000 Investigator grant to develop strategies to promote best-practice for osteoarthritis care.

    It’s estimated close to 30 per cent of the population experiences osteoarthritis. 

  • Grant success for our innovative ideas

    Grant success for our innovative ideas

    We’re thrilled to congratulate a collection of our Kolling Institute researchers who have won highly-competitive National Health and Medical Research Council grants for innovative investigations.

    Professor Chris Little has been awarded close to a million dollars for his Ideas grant “Getting to the Heart of Osteoarthritis”, which hopes to reduce osteoarthritis associated cardiovascular disease risk.

    Professor Little and Dr Cindy Shu from the Raymond Purves Bone and Joint Research Lab will collaborate on the novel study with Kolling heart disease researcher Dr Anastasia Mihailidou and Professor Anthony Ashton from the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research in the USA.

    We’d also like to congratulate musculoskeletal researcher Dr Jillian Eyles who has received a prestigious $660,000 Investigator grant to develop strategies to promote best-practice for osteoarthritis care.

    The significant grants reflect the expertise of our Kolling Institute researchers in musculoskeletal and heart disease, and recognise their consistent research impact and influence.

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