Research Cuts to the Heart
0th December
The groundbreaking work of UNSW molecular biologist Dr Levon Khachigian has been recognised with the AMGEN Medical Researcher Award 2001.
Dr Khachigian and his team in the School of Pathology have developed special enzymes made up of DNA rather than the usual RNA. These new enzymes seek out and destroy a key gene (called Egr-1) which Dr Khachigian's work has shown controls the growth of smooth muscle cells and thickening of the arteries after balloon angioplasty.
The new technique will combat renarrowing, or restenosis, in arteries following balloon angioplasty to clear artery blockages. "In up to half of all patients undergoing balloon angioplasty, and there are close to two million angioplasties performed around the world each year, the artery renarrows at the site where the balloon was inflated, within only a few months of the procedure," Dr Khachigian said.
Dr Khachigian's research was also shortlisted for a Eureka Prize earlier this year.
Dr Khachigian and his team in the School of Pathology have developed special enzymes made up of DNA rather than the usual RNA. These new enzymes seek out and destroy a key gene (called Egr-1) which Dr Khachigian's work has shown controls the growth of smooth muscle cells and thickening of the arteries after balloon angioplasty.
The new technique will combat renarrowing, or restenosis, in arteries following balloon angioplasty to clear artery blockages. "In up to half of all patients undergoing balloon angioplasty, and there are close to two million angioplasties performed around the world each year, the artery renarrows at the site where the balloon was inflated, within only a few months of the procedure," Dr Khachigian said.
Dr Khachigian's research was also shortlisted for a Eureka Prize earlier this year.
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