NSW CVRN Rising Stars Seminar Series - May 2026
Description
NSW CVRN Rising Stars Seminar Series - May 2026
The 2026 Rising Stars Seminar Series showcases early‑ and mid‑career researchers (EMCRs) and late‑stage PhD students who are building their research careers. Our line‑up of speakers reflects the depth and breadth of cardiovascular disease (CVD) research across NSW CVRN member organisations.
Please join us on Thursday 14 May at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute for the second seminar of 2026.
Theme: Advancing Cardiovascular Research Through Multiscale Innovation: Emerging Models and Targets in Cardiovascular Disease
This is a hybrid event. Attendees may choose to attend in person or online.
If you register for an online ticket, a Zoom link will be sent closer to the event date.
Please scroll down to view the speaker line‑up — all of whom are conducting outstanding CVD research.
Event check‑in (In-Person)
Please bring your QR code (digital or printed) on the day to allow for a quick and smooth check‑in on arrival.
Updating your attendance
If you are no longer able to attend, please cancel your RSVP using the “Manage order” link in your confirmation email, or notify the event organisers at cvrn@heartfoundation.org.au. Repeated non‑attendance at registered events will be logged and may affect eligibility for future CVRN initiatives.
Speakers
Dr Gregory Redpath
Uncovering how serotonin and antidepressants regulate lipoprotein uptake -------------------------------------- Dr Gregory Redpath is a cell biologist whose research investigates how serotonin receptor signalling is spatially organised within cells and how this organisation shapes disease outcomes. He undertook his Bachelor of Science at the University of Otago, and completed his PhD at Sydney University in 2016. A major focus of his research, in collaboration with Professor Sally McCormick at the University of Otago, is in understanding how serotonin and antidepressants influence cardiovascular disease, combining mechanistic cell biology with in vivo models and patient databases. Through this approach, he aims to uncover signalling mechanisms linking serotonergic pathways to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Dr Jamie-Lee Thompson
Uncovering the polygenic architecture of congenital heart disease and dilated cardiomyopathy -------------------------------------- Dr Jamie-Lee Thompson is a Postdoctoral Scientist in the Computational Genomics Laboratory at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. She received her PhD from Bond University in 2022, where she developed bioinformatics pipelines for transcriptomic and epigenetic data analysis, and was awarded the Vice-Chancellor's PhD Award for this work. In her current role, Dr Thompson specialises in understanding the genetic architecture of cardiovascular disease, with a focus on congenital heart disease and dilated cardiomyopathy. Her work aims to improve understanding of the genetic complexity underlying cardiovascular disease, with the goal of informing future risk prediction and clinical decision-making.
Dr Jordan Thorpe
Identifying New Therapeutic Approaches for Inflammatory Driven Atrial Fibrillation Utilizing Engineered Atrial Tissues -------------------------------------- Dr. Jordan Thorpe is a senior postdoctoral researcher at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI) in Sydney, Australia. He earned his PhD from the University of Nottingham, where his doctoral research focused on "Next generation biomaterials discovery for regenerative medicine". Currently, Dr. Thorpe specializes in atrial fibrillation (AF) and stem cell modelling. His recent work involves creating 3D cardiac patches to study AF rotor activity, a breakthrough that aims to identify novel drug combinations for dampening arrhythmias. His expertise bridges the gap between biomaterials, tissue engineering, and cardiac electrophysiology.
Dr Alexander Bateman
Computational and Experimental Modelling of the Cerebral Venous System -------------------------------------- Dr Alexander Bateman is a lecturer and early career researcher in the School of Engineering at the University of Newcastle. He completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), having completed a Master of Biomedical Engineering and Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering at UNSW. Alex’s research bridges the gap between engineering and medicine, focusing on the fluid mechanics of the cerebral vasculature in neurological conditions. His work aims to deepen the understanding of these conditions and contribute to the development of innovative treatments through collaboration with both clinical and engineering experts.
Dr Akanksha Bhargava
VascuViz: a multimodality and multiscale imaging and visualization pipeline for vascular disease research -------------------------------------- Akanksha received her PhD in mechanical engineering from Johns Hopkins University, USA with a specialization in computational thermal modelling and medical imaging. Subsequently, she gained expertise in multimodality, multiscale vascular imaging and image-analysis during her postdoctoral fellowship at the Division of Cancer Imaging in Radiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Currently, her research at UNSW is focused on applying novel AI approaches to image-based diagnostics for neurodegenerative conditions such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Her research has received numerous accolades including the Emerging Leaders Award from The Microcirculatory Society, USA and has been published in high-impact journals including Nature Methods.
Lauren Cook
Developing an iPSC model of epicardial adipose tissue-mediated atrial fibrillation -------------------------------------- Lauren Cook is a PhD Candidate in the Computational Cardiology Laboratory at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney. Her research focuses on developing iPSC-derived models of atrial fibrillation (AF) to investigate how epicardial adipose tissue contributes to the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying arrhythmia. Using multicellular co-culture models, she aims to uncover the pathways driving this crosstalk and identify new therapeutic targets for AF.
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