A/Prof Christina Bursill

A/Prof Christina Bursill started as Co-director of the Vascular Research Centre in January 2017 at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and at The University of Adelaide, Department of Health and Medical Science. She currently holds the Lin Huddleston National Heart Foundation fellowship and is a Chief Investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Biophotonics (CNBP). A/Prof Bursill was recently elected to the board of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance and is past-President of the Australian Atheroslcerosis Society. A/Prof Bursill is a vascular biologist with interests and expertise in vascular inflammation, atherosclerosis and angiogenesis. She completed her PhD at The University of Adelaide in lipid metabolism then headed to Oxford University for five years to undergo a postdoctoral post in the Departments of Cardiovascular Medicine and Pathology. Her postdoctoral time triggered her interest in the mechanisms that cause atherosclerosis and in particular the role of small inflammatory proteins called chemokines. Christina returned to Australia in 2007 at the Heart Research Institute (HRI) in Sydney where she led the Immunobiology Group. In 2008, A/Prof Bursill was awarded a National Heart Foundation Career Development Fellowship. At the HRI A/Prof Bursill developed an interest in high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and through NHMRC/NHF funding investigates novel mechanisms of their action in models of stent biocompatibility, diabetes and wound healing. She also has an interest in using viral gene transfer techniques to over-express proteins that attenuate chemokine activity to suppress atherosclerosis and inflammatory-driven diseases. A/Prof Bursill currently holds NHMRC Ideas, Heart Foundation Vanguard and Diabetes Australia Millenium grant funding.