Early Career Researcher Initiatives

The Hypertension Winter School 2021 was held over two half days: Thursday 8th July and Friday 9th of July.

The fully loaded program featured some of Australia’s leading hypertension and cardiovascular experts who will provide an overview of the pathophysiology, management, treatment and research techniques used in high blood pressure research.

For more details including the program click HERE.

To view the recordings from the event click HERE.

Aim:

The aim of the early-mid career researcher international conference fund is to provide financial support for EMCRs to attend and present their research at an online international conference.

Description:

Grants of up to $200 will be provided for EMCRs to pay the registration fee for an online international conference in 2021.

Eligibility:

• Must be a current member of the HBPRCA.
• Must have been a member of the HBPRCA for at least 1 year (student membership included).
• Must be a PhD candidate or no more than 10 years post-PhD.
• Must be presenting an abstract at the conference via poster or oral presentation.

Requirements:

• Fully completed application form.
• Applicant CV (2 pages max).
• Short report on your conference experience to be published in the HBPRCA eNewsletter.
• Acknowledgement of the HBPRCA funding on the final slide of your presentation/poster

Selection criteria for applicants:

Funding will be on a competitive basis, with the conference quality and alignment with the HBPRCA considered. EMCRs will be funded for one international online conference only.

Distribution of funds:

There will be three calls for applications through the year (closing dates of 1 May 2021, 1 August 2021 and 1 December 2021).

Applications for funding can be made prospectively or retrospectively, bearing in mind that proof of abstract acceptance and presentation is required for the application.

Successful applicants will be funded the amount of the conference registration, up to a maximum of $200 AUD. Proof of the conference registration cost will be sought at the time of application.

Please click HERE to download the application form.

The 2020 ECR Symposium was held just prior to the Annual Scientific Meeting! This event was jam-packed with presentations on research funding, work/life balance and lessons from this unpredictable year. Small group expert panel sessions enabled discussions of different topics important for PhD students and ECRs. A workshop was also held on how to identify your research mission.

Full program is available HERE.

Speakers included:

Prof. Martha Gulati: As division chief of Cardiology for the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix and physician executive director for the Banner – University Medicine Heart Institute, Dr. Martha Gulati leads educational activities in cardiovascular sciences for medical students, residents and fellows at the college and Banner Health. She also heads clinical heart care as the director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Banner. She completed medical school at the University of Toronto, Canada; her internship, residency and cardiology fellowship at the University of Chicago; is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association; and is board-certified in cardiovascular disease.

Kerry Doyle: Kerry stepped across from the Heart Foundation, to the ACvA, where she has been the Chief Executive Officer at the NSW Division, and played a huge role in strategy development. She also has immense experience in working with state and federal government- from both internally and in advocacy, having previously been the Executive Director of NSW Government’s Industry, Innovation & Investment Division. Kerry has interests that span from fundamental discovery and innovation through to public health.

Dr. Bradley Broughton: Dr Brad Broughton has an emerging profile in both the national and international cardiovascular community. Brad is currently a Foundation for High Blood Pressure Research Fellow and is a senior member of the Vascular Biology and Immunopharmacology Group in the Department of Pharmacology. He is a member of two Editorial Boards (ISRN Stroke and Physiology Journal) and is a Chief Investigator on a NHMRC Project Grant and Grant-in-aid from the National Heart Foundation.

A/Prof. Seana Gall: A/Prof Seana Gall is a senior research fellow in cardiovascular epidemiology. She conducts epidemiological studies to understand ways to prevent, manage and improve outcomes of cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke. She has published over 100 journal articles and has attracted over $9 million in funding for her research including current funding as a National Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellow and lead investigator for the NHMRC Synergy Grant – Synergies to Prevent Stroke (STOPstroke). She is an active member of the scientific community including as chair of the Tasmanian Government’s Tobacco Control Coalition, chair of the Stroke Foundation’s Health Promotion advisory sub-committee and member of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance Mission for Cardiovascular Health Clinical Trials Flagship advisory group.

Prof. Gavin Lambert: Professor Lambert is the Director of the Iverson Health Innovation Research Institute. He is a Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA) and was formerly Head of the Human Neurotransmitters Laboratory at the Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute. He is a neurochemist/clinical research scientist and his research focus includes psychological stress, hypertension and obesity. The breadth of his work reflects the protean nature of the sympathetic nervous system which is implicit in the physiology of an array of biological systems. He has worked previously in Sweden and France, has ongoing local, national and international collaborations.

Dr. Jonathan Mynard: Dr Jonathan Mynard is the Leader of the Cardiovascular Bioengineering Team within the Heart Research group at MCRI. He is an Honorary Research Fellow with the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne and Department of Cardiology, Royal Children’s Hospital, and Senior Honorary Research Fellow with Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Melbourne. Dr Mynard holds undergraduate degrees in Medical Biophysics & Intrumentation and Electrical & Electronic Engineering (Swinburne University), a Master’s degree in Computer Modelling (Swansea University, Wales) and a PhD from the University of Melbourne.

A/Prof. Francine Marques: Associate Professor Francine Marques is a current National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow and a former National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Heart Foundation Early Career Fellow. She completed a BSc with first class Honours in Genetics and a Masters in Molecular Biology and Genetics, at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. She then moved to Australia, where she was offered a competitive Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (EIPRS) to complete a PhD at the University of Sydney. A/Prof Marques was awarded her PhD in 2012, in the field of the molecular genomics of hypertension.

Dr. Rachel Climie: Rachel is a clinical exercise physiologist and Heart Foundation postdoctoral research fellow specialising in vascular ageing. She completed her PhD at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research and 2 years postdoctoral research studying cardiovascular epidemiology and arterial mechanics at Paris Research Center Cardiovasculaire (PARCC), France, where she is an Honorary Fellow. Rachel is interested in the ageing of the blood vessels (vascular ageing), the consequences of early vascular ageing (such as in patients with diabetes or cancer) and how exercise can be used to prevent or delay this. She has expertise in non-invasive techniques to determine vascular ageing. In collaboration with her European colleagues, Rachel was recently awarded a European Collaboration in Science and Technology Action grant ($1M) to translate vascular ageing research into clinical practice.

The Hypertension Winter School was a free online event that aimed to provide an educational overview on the pathophysiology, management and treatment of hypertension.

Internationally renowned speakers include: President of the HBPRCA, Prof. Markus Schlaich (The University of Western Australia), President of the International Society of Hypertension, Prof. Alta Schutte (University of New South Wales) and short Blitz presentations from HBPRCA students and ECRs.

For full program click HERE.

HBPRCA are pleased to announce the EMCR support fund!

The aim of the early-mid career researcher support fund is to provide financial support for EMCRs for a broad range of research-related activities.

Grants of up to $500 will be available for EMCRs meeting the below eligibility criteria.

Eligibility:

• Must be a current member of the HBPRCA.
• Must have been a member of the HBPRCA for at least 1 year (student membership included).
• Must be a PhD candidate or no more than 10 years post-PhD.
• Research-related activities that are eligible for funding include:
  • Equipment / lab expenses
  • Conference registration and related travel expenses (where applicable)
  • Contribution toward paper publication costs
  • Other reasonable research-related costs
  • Membership fees for HBPRCA or other societies will not be funded
• Successful awardees from 2021 are not eligible to apply

Requirements:

• Fully completed application form.
• Must clearly demonstrate why the funds are needed.
• Applicant CV (2 pages max).
• Evidence on how the funds were used if successful.
• A short report on the activities the funds were used for will be published in the HBPRCA eNewsletter.
• Acknowledgement of the HBPRCA funding where applicable.

Selection criteria for applicants:

Funding will be competitive, with the quality and alignment with the objectives of the HBPRCA considered.

Distribution of funds:

The closing date for applications will be 5 September 2022.

Successful applicants will be funded the exact amount of the conference registration or other expenses, up to a maximum of $500 AUD. An itemised budget must be prepared to detail the proposed use of the funds.

The application form is attached and available HERE

Off the back of the extremely popular APSH Summer School Program, the Early Career Researcher Committee, along with the HBP Council are establishing a Winter School program from 2020 – watch this space for further details.

To contact the Early Career Researcher Committee or apply for any of the programs above please email admin@yoursecretariat.com.au

In 2018 the HBPRCA Early Career Researcher Committee launched a fantastic initiative – the HBPRCA Mentor / Mentee Program. In this program, highly experienced mentors volunteer to mentor young Investigators around the country. Each Mentor is paired with their more junior counterpart for advice and support, and there are now 23 Mentor / Mentee pairs around the country!

Click HERE to view the Mentoring Program application form!