The SAHMRI (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute) is an independent flagship organisation dedicated to improving health outcomes, both in Australia and around the world. One of their research areas is Heart Health and IA is proud to provide a range of insurances to SAHMRI for the multiple clinical trials being conducted by this department.

In fact, it was the provision of these insurances that led to IA donating $25,000 to SAHMRI to actively support one of their Heart Health projects. This funding follows on from last year’s donation and our Founder and Chairman, Ian Carr and Authorised Representative, Wayne Trezona, were on hand to present this cheque to SAHMRI CFO, Barry Porter, Tony Ashdown, the SAHMRI Development Manager, Dr Sam Parva and Deb Coelho.

The $25,000 donation by IA will support ongoing Heart Health research led by Professor Steve Nicholls that aims to improve the treatment of patients with PAD (Peripheral Arterial Disease).

IA’s donation supports a Heart Health PhD project

It is well known that people with PAD are likely to suffer from vascular complications of the lower limbs, for example intermittent claudication (cramping pain in the legs), ulceration of the lower limbs and amputation.

Unfortunately, people who suffer from PAD are less likely to receive guideline-directed therapies to treat known risk factors when compared to people who suffer from coronary artery disease or cerebrovascular disease, despite having similar levels of mortality and morbidity.

Therefore, this IA funded PhD project focusses on people who suffer from PAD, specifically addressing the lack of effective therapies for treating cardiovascular risk factors. Within this PhD study, a number of therapies and lifestyle changes will be investigated, including exercise, weight loss, cessation of smoking and medical therapies to target hyperglycaemia (high blood sugars), hypertension (high blood pressure) and dyslipidaemia (high levels of cholesterol).

The aim of this PhD project is to improve the functional capacity and cardiovascular risk profile of people who suffer from PAD.

The IA donation of $25,000 will help to pay for the costs of ECGs, 24 hour holter monitoring, and blood analyses for each of the participants in the study.

You can find out more about the research performed at SAHMRI at their website: https://www.sahmri.org/