Brisbane's William Jolly Bridge
Brisbane's William Jolly Bridge
29 September 2017

Intricate laboratory images of a blood vessel network as seen under the microscope are being projected on Brisbane’s William Jolly Bridge until Monday.  

University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience partnered with the Heart Foundation in celebration of World Heart Day today.

Cardiovascular disease kills one Australian every 12 minutes and is responsible for almost 30 per cent of all deaths.

UQ IMB researcher Associate Professor Ben Hogan provided the image from his research laboratory.

“We are delighted to partner with Heart Foundation Queensland to share with the community the wonder of the amazing images our researchers get to see down the microscope each day,” Dr Hogan said.

“By studying how blood and lymphatic vessels develop and spread through the body, we are gaining key insights into cardiovascular development, disease and regeneration.

“Heart Foundation Queensland and its generous supporters have enabled us to identify the genes that control formation of blood and lymphatic vessels, and how we might target these genes to regenerate cardiovascular tissue following a heart attack.”

Heart Foundation Queensland Health Director Rachelle Foreman said the light-up was a great opportunity to bring research out of the laboratory and into the community.

“Our cardiovascular researchers are doing amazing work and deserve to have some attention on World Heart Day,” Ms Foreman said.

The Heart Foundation is currently funding nineteen cardiovascular researchers in Queensland, including Dr Hogan.

Dr Hogan is also co-Director of the UQ Centre for Cardiac and Vascular Biology.

The centre brings together experts from different disciplines with a common goal of making breakthrough discoveries that will drive innovative clinical outcomes in the future.

The bridge will light-up each night until Monday, 2 October.

Media: IMB, Bronwyn Adams, communications@imb.uq.edu.au, 07 3346 2134, 0418 575 247: Heart Foundation, Paula Lazzarini, paula.lazzarini@heartfoundation.org.au, 0427 619 589.