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"There are so many unanswered questions, so many puzzles we are yet to solve," she said.

Dr Bart should have been on a plane on Monday, bound for Harvard University and the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Massachusetts for her 10-month Fulbright exchange placement, collaborating with fellow bright minds to unravel the complexities of cardiac genetics.

The Fulbright Program is a highly coveted US foreign exchange scholarship program, aimed at increasing bi-national research collaboration, cultural understanding and the exchange of ideas.

The COVID-19 pandemic has waylaid Dr Bart's travel plans and diverted her attention to the effects of the virus on cardiac patients. But she is continuing her research into the genetic roots of cardiac disease, in particular cardiac amyloidosis, where abnormal protein deposits amyloid fibrils build up in heart tissue, causing heart failure.

Amyloid heart disease used to be a death sentence, Dr Bart said.

"By the time we see patients and diagnose them, it's often too late. We had no treatment we could offer these patients until very recently," she said. "Now that we have those treatments we have a clinical imperative to diagnose early [using genetic testing].

"We are on this cusp of a genetics and genomic revolution where patients can be offered treatment based on their individual genetic make-up," Dr Bart said. "It's hugely exciting".

Being on the cusp of scientific breakthroughs seems like a fitting spot for the expert mountaineer. Dr Bart and her mother, Cheryl Bart, were first mother-daughter team to summit Everest and complete the "Seven Summits" challenge climbing the highest mountains on each continent.

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"I appreciate what it feel like to push your body to the extreme," she said.

"The thing about being in high altitudes, up about 8000 metres, you have to focus on the next step and breath. There's a mindfulness to that focus, and not worrying about the bigger problem. You have a plan in place and you just keep taking that next step."

It's an ethos she brings to her research in the male-dominated field. Women account for just 15 per cent of cardiologists in Australia.

"There is still a huge gender gap, and this is likely affecting outcomes in research," she said. "The fascinating thing about women's hearts is that they behave different to men's. The signs and symptoms are different. Women don't have that thumping elephant-on-the-chest pain. They have more subtle symptoms.

"It's imperative that we have more female specialists and we utilise our different ways of thinking. We need more people to think laterally and collaborate."

Associate Professor Anthony Schembri, chief executive officer at St Vincent's Hospital, described Dr Bart as "a compassionate specialist who cares deeply for each of her patients, at the same time as undertaking research from the bench to the bedside with the aim of achieving long-term improved outcomes in her field of cardiac genetics".

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Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute executive director Professor Jason Kovacic said Dr Bart was "one of the many inspiring women in science, a trailblazer, pushing the boundaries and paving the way for hopefully more women considering a career as a researcher".

"It is a great honour to be awarded a Fulbright scholarship, and it is a reflection of Dr Bart's dedication to be at the forefront of medical research and ensure that studies are not undertaken in isolation but rather in collaboration with global partners to truly make a difference for patients suffering from heart disease," he said.

Kate Aubusson is Health Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.

Read more from the original source:
Sydney cardiologist honoured with Fulbright scholarship - Sydney Morning Herald

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