HEART OF AUSTRALIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Clinical Trials

Though there is more being done today to bring greater access to healthcare services in rural, remote, and First Nations communities, Australians living in these areas are often still excluded from participating in clinical trials due to a number of barriers such as distance, cultural differences, geographic isolation, and workforce capacity.

In 2024 Heart of Australia launched the Heart of Australia Research Institute (HARI) to help facilitate the inclusion of country patients into clinical trials, giving them an equal chance of accessing innovative treatments and solutions not yet available to the general public. 

HARI is currently helping to deliver two ongoing clinical trials in rural Queensland with the support of our partners and research team members.

HARI Team Members

Investigators

Dr Rolf Gomes

Dr Rolf Gomes

BE | MBBS | FRACP

Principal Investigator

Founder & Director of Heart of Australia,
General Cardiologist

Assoc. Prof Karam Kostner

Assoc. Prof Karam Kostner

MD, PhD, FRACP, FCSANZ

Director of Cardiology at Mater Health Services

Dr Alexander Dashwood

Dr Alexander Dashwood

BM, BSc, FRACP, MRCP (UK)

Lead Cardiologist at Heart of Australia

General Cardiologist & Cardiac Electrophysiologist

Dr Karthikeyan Gopal

Dr Karthikeyan Gopal

MBBS | FRACP | FCSANZ

General, Coronary and Structural Interventional Cardiologist

Coordinators

Melissa Riedy

Melissa Riedy

Senior Project Manager, Clinical Trials

Maria Abrigo

Maria Abrigo

Operations & Scheduling Manager

Active Trials

Research Trial 1

This trial will investigate the effect of lipoprotein (a) {Lp(a)} lowering treatment on the reduction of major cardiovascular events in patients with elevated Lp(a) levels.

 

Research Trial 2

This trial will assess morbidity and mortality on patients with heart failure (HF) with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF) or HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) following a once monthly subcutaneous injection.