Epilepsy and high blood pressure in the sights of Swinburne’s $2.7 million in NHMRC funding

Swinburne has successfully secured $2.7 million in the latest round of National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grants to address two major health concerns for millions of Australians: high blood pressure and epilepsy.

Using light-activated nanoparticles to treat high blood pressure

One project, funded at $1.4 million, aims to develop a more precise technique to treat high blood pressure or hypertension, which affects one in three Australian adults.  

Despite the availability of medications to manage it, approximately 12 per cent of patients remain unable to control their blood pressure, putting them at increased risk of serious health problems such as stroke, heart disease, kidney disease, and even premature death.  

Swinburne’s Professor Simon Moulton will lead a team of researchers from Swinburne University of Technology, RMIT University, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, and the University of Western Australia to develop a new, non-medication-based treatment for people with resistant hypertension.

The research aims to target the carotid body, a small organ in the neck that plays a key role in regulating blood pressure. In people with high blood pressure, the carotid body can become overactive, which can contribute to the problem. The researchers are exploring a method to reduce this overactivity by using near-infrared light to activate nanoparticles, which can target and treat the carotid body more precisely.

If successful, this new treatment could offer an alternative for patients who struggle with existing blood pressure medications.

Professor Moulton says the funding will allow them to build on years of research.

“Hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease, and this research could lead to better outcomes for people who have not been able to control their blood pressure with medication alone.”

The team will conduct much of their work at the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery, a new research facility at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, which will open in 2025.  

Improving epilepsy surgery eligibility and results with non-invasive 3D brain imaging

Swinburne’s Professor Chris Plummer is the chief investigator for the second successful project which was awarded $1.35 million to create 3D maps of the brain that track abnormal electrical activity causing epilepsy. 

The technique offers a safer, non-invasive way to understand where these brain waves begin and how they spread, providing new insights into epilepsy.

The research builds on Swinburne’s international leadership in brain science, including the Swinburne Neuroimaging facility, which boasts Australia’s fastest human brain imaging system.