Fighting for better heart health in WA
Professor Livia Hool is the Wesfarmers UWA-VCCRI Chair in Cardiovascular Research, the Director of Ben Beale Laboratory in Cardiovascular Research at The University of Western Australia, and the founder of the Western Australian Cardiovascular Research Alliance (WACRA).
While her job title is a little complicated, her mission is simple.
To advocate for Western Australian cardiovascular researchers and clinicians to receive more research funding and support to tackle the leading cause of death and disease burden in Australia – cardiovascular disease.
While Prof Hool originally hails from NSW, she has been a proud West Aussie for the past 25 years.
She completed her PhD as a Gaston Bauer Cardiovascular Fellow with Helge Rasmussen at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney studying ion channel electrophysiology using the Nobel Prize winning patch-clamp technique and was then awarded an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship to undertake further ion channel research in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA.
She then returned to Australia with a NHMRC Peter Doherty Fellowship and relocated to The University of Western Australia, where she established The Cardiovascular Electrophysiology Laboratory in the School of Human Sciences.
She is also the driving force (and inaugural chair) behind WACRA and one of the loudest voices campaigning for further investment in cardiovascular disease research across the country.
Prof Hool set up WACRA in 2019 with the aim of bringing all WA-based cardiac researchers together as a unified voice and elevating them on the national stage.
WACRA unites leading heart, stroke and vascular disease researchers from universities and institutes throughout Western Australia, working across the pipeline from fundamental pre-clinical research, epidemiology and public health through to clinical trials.
She is well known across the medical and research community for her no-nonsense, down-to-earth approach and for providing a platform for all cardiovascular researchers to access much needed funds to support their potentially lifesaving research.
“WACRA is a fantastic opportunity to position our talented Western Australian cardiovascular researchers on the national stage,” she said.
“There was previously a very siloed approach to cardiovascular research in WA and often I was finding that the voice of WA researchers and clinicians just wasn’t being heard on the national stage.
“We want to elevate our members on the national and global stage, ensure they’re represented on national committees focused on cardiovascular research and that they’re getting the recognition and funds that they deserve to enable them to do the work they do,” she said.
WACRA has now grown to a membership base of 240 with representation from all 5 universities, and the major institutions and foundations across Perth. The Hospital Research Foundation Group, formerly known in WA as Spinnaker Health Research Foundation, was one of the founding members.
Prof Hool’s commitment to cardiac research comes at a time when cardiovascular related disease and illness is the leading cause of mortality and disease burden in Australia.
“Sadly, this isn’t reflected in the level of funding it deserves or attracts,” she said.
“Cardiovascular disease costs our country around $10 billion annually and the WA community approximately $1.2 billion every year.
Recent statistics show that CVD kills one in every four Australians.
One Australian dies from CVD every 12 minutes – equaling 118 deaths every day.
Sobering reading for everyone and an ongoing challenge for people like Prof Hool frustrated that the government isn’t providing more funding to tackle such a critical disease that is impacting so many.
“I do find it frustrating there isn’t more funding for cardiovascular research when the statistics are as appalling as they are,” she said.
“There’s significantly more funding channeled into cancer related research, and while we need to be funding that, we need to be giving more to research being conducted right here in Western Australia that has the potential to impact millions of Australians.”
Prof Hool said working with The Hospital Research Foundation Group would expand the opportunities available to WA based researchers and clinicians even further and promote collaboration between SA and WA that would deliver better health outcomes for everyone.
“It’s absolutely a win win situation,” she said.
When she isn’t in her lab at UWA or knocking on doors asking for more investment in lifesaving cardiovascular research, she enjoys the everyday moments exploring the WA coastline with her husband and enjoying precious time spent with her two adult children.
Thanks to Prof Hool, the quest to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease in the community remains front and centre.
