Sean Hardy
PhD
Junior Research Fellow
In 2023, I completed my PhD candidature as an international collaboration between the University of Newcastle (Australia; home institution), and the Medical University of Graz (Austria), conducting research on campus at both institutions throughout. I then obtained a fellowship at St John’s College, funding an independent research program until 2027. The work I am conducting under this Fellowship is investigating vascular, immune and fibrotic responses in both the early onset of cardiovascular diseases, and the later wound healing stages. One branch of my work is utilizing translational models to trial the therapeutic potential of stimulating angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis after heart attack. The other branch is identifying novel therapeutic targets involved in the early development of coronary microvascular disease, which often precedes large coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction. For this, we are collaborating with the John Radcliffe Hospital to study patient tissue biopsies.