Dr Bianca Bernardo

Biography

Dr Bianca Bernardo is a Senior Research Officer in the Cardiac Hypertrophy Laboratory. Dr Bernardo obtained her PhD from The University of Melbourne in 2009, where she studied key genetic and biological mechanisms of skeletal development and disease. Since then, she has broadened her research interest into studying physiological cardiac hypertrophy, which focuses on targeting novel components of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway as a therapeutic strategy to treat heart failure. Specifically, she is interested in examining the therapeutic potential of PI3K-regulated microRNAs in a setting of heart disease. With recent advances in RNA-based drugs and a microRNA based drug having successfully completed phase 2 clinical trial (Janssen et al., NEJM 2013;368:1685–94), this represents an exciting field of research. Her more recent work demonstrated that when a microRNA-based drug was administered to mice with pre-existing pathological hypertrophy and cardiac dysfunction (due to pressure overload), this was able to attenuate pathological remodelling and improve cardiac function (Bernardo et al., PNAS 2012;109(43):17615–20). For this work, she has be awarded numerous prizes, most notably the 2012 Ralph Reader Prize (Basic Science) at the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand Conference, and the International Society of Heart Research and Australian Physiological Society Postdoctoral Publication Awards for the best original research paper by an early postdoctoral fellow (2013). Bianca is also an avid cyclist and takes part in cycling fundraising events to promote physical activity and exercise for heart health.

Research Interest

Therapeutic potential of microRNAs for the treatment of heart failure, Differences between the athlete's heart and the diseased heart, Development of new therapies and cardiac specific delivery of novel drugs for the treatment of heart failure.