Researchers awarded funding to improve health outcomes after surgery

Professor Yugeesh Lankadeva, Associate Professor Lachlan Miles, Professor David Story, Dr Emily See, Dr Yasmine Ali Abdelhamid, Associate Professor Mark Plummer, and Dr Laura Cook from the Department of Critical Care, in collaboration with researchers from The Florey Institute and clinical specialists across hospitals across Victoria and South Australia, have been awarded a $4.9 million grant from the Australian Federal Government’s Cardiovascular Health Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).

Pictured: Project leads Professor Yugeesh Lankadeva and Associate Professor Lachlan Miles

Cardiac surgeries requiring temporary support for the heart and lungs using cardiopulmonary bypass can lead to severe postoperative complications, driven by inflammation and hypoxia. These complications include neurological disorders such as delirium in 50% of the cases and acute kidney injury in 30% of the cases.

The MEGA-HEART project, led by Professor Lankadeva, aims to investigate the use of a Florey and Austin Health-patented novel formulation of sodium ascorbate to reduce intra- and postoperative inflammation and hypoxia in the brain and kidneys.

With the support of the Cardiovascular Health MRFF grant, the team plans to focus on determining the optimal dosage of this treatment through clinically relevant large animal trials, paving the way for subsequent human trials in clinical settings.

This innovative research was recently covered in The Australian, on Channel 7 and Channel 9, highlighting its potential to revolutionise patient outcomes following heart surgery.

The Department of Critical Care commends all those involved in the project and looks forward to the significant contributions of this research to improving neurological, cardiac and renal health both nationally and internationally.