Cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer in Australia – and the world – but does the funding for research to find better treatments and cures match the overall burden of the disease?
, leader of the at the (HRI), spoke to Cosmos Magazine recently about the need for more basic science research and the effects of funding shortfalls.
“A limb is amputated every two hours in Australia due to (PAD),” says Assoc Prof Kavurma, a specialist in PAD. “We need far more insight into conditions like PAD, and the underlying . And this is only possible through basic discovery research.”
Assoc Prof Kavurma says there is a funding shortage across all disciplines, but believes it is especially pronounced in cardiovascular research, despite the high cost to the health system of .
“Without discovery research there are no medical breakthroughs, yet today we see a significant decline in funding for discovery researchers,” says Assoc Prof Kavurma.
“There is no translation or advancement in knowledge without the discovery pipeline.”
