Dr Siiri Iismaa

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Dr Siiri Iismaa is a highly respected molecular cardiologist with dedicated research interests in cardiac hypertrophy, heart regeneration following cardiac stress or injury, and more recently vascular disease processes.

Dr Iismaa graduated from the Australian National University with BSc (Hons I) and the University Medal, and then completed a PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology. Dr Iismaa was awarded a US Biotechnology Program Fellowship to work at the University of California, Irvine, where she coupled her molecular biology skills with protein engineering and protein structure-function studies. Dr Iismaa returned to Australia to the Heart Research Institute in 1990 as an NHMRC Australian Postdoctoral Fellow to work on heart disease, studying proteins of immunological importance and regulation of gene expression. Dr Iismaa joined the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in 1994 as a Senior Scientist and a Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW to continue studying proteins involved in various cardiovascular disease processes.

Dr Iismaa uses a range of approaches, including human induced pluripotent stem cell models, mouse models and genomics analyses to understand fundamental biological processes and disease mechanisms. Her work has been recognised by competitive national grant funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) as well as the National Heart Foundation of Australian (NHFA). In 2015, Dr Iismaa undertook a lecture tour of Japan on a Fellowship from the 'Japan Society for the Promotion of Science'.