How do congenital valve defects shape the adult heart?

Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect, affecting approximately 1 in 500 live births. Many of these disorders involve malformed heart valves, the structures that ensure blood flows in the correct direction through the heart. Although valve abnormalities are present from birth, remarkably little is known about how they alter heart development over time or contribute to heart disease later in life. Our lab has developed a unique zebrafish model in which heart valves become abnormally thick during embryonic development. This project will investigate a fundamental unanswered question: how do congenital valve defects influence the structure, function and cellular composition of the heart throughout life? By tracking these animals into adulthood, you will determine whether early developmental abnormalities permanently alter the heart and identify the cellular changes that drive disease progression. This project offers the opportunity to work at the interface of developmental biology and cardiovascular disease while gaining hands-on experience with state-of-the-art techniques, including molecular biology, high-resolution confocal microscopy and quantitative image analysis. How to Apply We are seeking a motivated honours, Master's, or PhD candidate who is passionate about contributing to scientific knowledge and improving human health. If you are interested in this project, please send your CV, Cover Letter, and full academic transcripts to renee.chow@monash.edu. PhD candidates are required to secure external funding. Subject to the rules of the funding body, our lab will supply PhD students with an additional $5000/year top-up scholarship. For more information about the lab: https://armi.org.au/our-groups/chow-group/