An Australian government research fund has granted $1.7 million (US$1.1 million) to target three major cardiovascular diseases using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, accelerating the use of gene therapy’s treatment of diseases beyond COVID-19.
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, one of Australia’s oldest medical research organisations focused on heart disease, welcomed the grant from Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
“We are grateful to the MRFF for funding us to advance this important research,” Baker Institute’s head of molecular imaging and theranostics Xiaowei Wang said in a statement on Sep. 28.
Baker Institute team (Supplied)
Associate Prof. Wang said that the mRNA-based therapies will directly reduce inflammation and blockages for three major heart diseases—atherosclerosis, pulmonary hypertension, and abdominal aortic aneurysm—which currently have limited cures and all start with inflammation….