
BSc (Hons), PhD, FAHA
Biography
Kerry-Anne Rye obtained her PhD from Flinders University of South Australia in 1986 and gained her postdoctoral training at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a Research Professor, Head of the Cardiometabolic Disease Research Group and Deputy Head (Research) in the School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Lipid Research, an Editorial Board Member of the American Heart Association journal, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB) and the Senior Associate Editor of The Journal of the American Heart Association Professor Rye is the Immediate-Past Chair of the American Heart Association ATVB Council and Chair of the American Heart Association ATVB Council Nominations Committee.
Research Program
Professor Rye co-leads the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease group with Associate Professor Shane Thomas. The overarching goal of Professor Rye's research program is to improve understanding of the causes of heart disease (atherosclerosis) and diabetes and to develop novel strategies for treating both diseases. Professor Rye studies signal transduction pathways in multiple cell types (macrophages and endothelial cells for heart disease and pancreatic beta cells and skeletal muscle cells for diabetes) and works with novel animal models and state-of-the-art imaging techniques to identify new therapeutic targets for atherosclerosis and diabetes. She was the first to report that the atheroprotective high density lipoproteins (HDLs) in human plasma inhibit inflammation in coronary arteries, and that HDLs also have anti-diabetic properties.
Current Postdoctoral Fellows
Kwok Leung Ong
Elias Glaros
Blake Cochran
Jaqueline Ku
Ben Wu
Carmen Zhang
Current PhD Students
Thomas King
Samson Ogumodede
Current MSc Students
Dr Liam Guiney
Current Honours Students
Claudia Fanuli
Vaishnavi Ratnasabesar
Deanne Do Rosario
Fatima El-Najjar
William Tucker
Research Opportunities
There are opportunities for Honours, MSc and PhD students in the Rye Group research program. Contact Kerry-Anne Rye (k.rye@unsw.edu.au) for details of specific projects.
NSW Govt. Cardiovascular Research Capacity Program Senior Researcher Grant: Preventing and Reversing Accelerated Atherosclerosis in Patients with Diabetes
National Heart Foundation of Australia Vanguard Grant: A Novel Approach for Preventing Cardiovascular complications in Patients with Diabetes
National Heart Foundation of Australia Vanguard Grant: A Novel Strategy for Reducing Future Events in Myocardial Infarction Survivors
NHMRC Ideas Grant:Preservation and Generation of Beta Cells in Type 1 Diabetes with Novel Mimetic Peptides
NHMRC Ideas Grant: A Novel, Dual-targeted Therapeutic Approach for Reducing Diabetes-accelerated Atherosclerosis
MRFF Cardiovascular Mission Grant: Development of novel, clinically viable strategies for reducing cardiac damage and preventing future events in myocardial infarction (MI) survivors by targeting inflammation
2012 American Heart Association ATVB Council Special Recognition Award in Arteriosclerosis
2015 American Heart Association ATVB Council Distinguished Achievement Award
2016 UNSW, Faculty of Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Researcher of the Year Award
2017 American Heart Association ATVB Council Mentor of Women Award
2020: University of New South Wales, Faculty of Medicine Award for Academic Research Excellence
2021: Inaugural Fellow of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
2021: NSW Government Ministerial Award for Research Excellence
2021: UNSW School of Medical Sciences Mentor of the Year
2022: American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Mid-Career Leadership Award
My Research Supervision
Liam Guiney (MSc)
Thomas King (PhD)
Samson Ogumodede (PhD)
Claudia Fanuli (Honours)
William Tucker (Honours)
Deanne Do Rosario (Medicine Honours)
Vaishnavi Ratnasabesar (Honours)
Fatima El-Najjar (Honours)