What is the issue for NSW?
Approximately two thirds of Australian adults are living with overweight or obesity. This startling statistic is compounded by the fact that approximately one in four children and adolescents are now affected by overweight or obesity, with a clear transgenerational link of obesity transmission evident for most of these young Australians. Individuals living with overweight or obesity have a dramatic increase in the likelihood of developing a range of debilitating conditions, including diabetes, which is currently estimated to affect more than 1.5 million Australians. Obesity and diabetes greatly increase the risk of developing a suite of serious complications, most notably cardiovascular disease. The direct and indirect costs attributed to overweight and obesity have been estimated to exceed $50 billion annually, while diabetes costs the Australian economy more than $14 billion per year. These alarming figures highlight the significant impact of these conditions and the need to find new therapeutic approaches.
What does the research aim to do and how?
Many of the underlying molecular changes that cause impaired cardiovascular function in diabetes and obesity are related to an oversupply of lipid and subsequent excess deposition of toxic lipid species in cardiac and vascular tissues. This project builds on significant preliminary research conducted by our team to investigate 2 approaches to target lipotoxicity, one involving the development of new compounds that reduce the synthesis of specific types of toxic lipids, and the other promoting the burning of excess calories in cells to reduce lipid buildup.