The Ministerial Awards for Cardiovascular Research are presented annually at the NSW CVRN Showcase and Awards Ceremony to recognise and celebrate outstanding contributions to research in cardiovascula...

A growing number of self-styled ‘health experts’ are not taking cholesterol seriously. The messaging isn’t just misleading, it’s potentially life-threatening.

Pushing hard in training helps us get fitter, but balance is essential. A specialist shares his advice for exercising safely at a high level for years to come.

Institute scientist Dr Jasmine Banks is investigating the potential for NAD+ to transform the treatment of metabolic conditions such as obesity.

Structural isomerism in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) presents a persistent challenge in lipidomics due to limited chromatographic resolution and indistinguishable mass spectral profiles. Moreover, many methods that overcome these limitations require specialized instruments or complex photochemistry typically not accessible in for those using standard lipidomics core facilities. We report a streamlined LC-MS/MS method that integrates N-(4-aminomethylphenyl)pyridinium (AMP)-based charge-switch derivatization with meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (mCPBA) epoxidation to enable rapid and sensitive profiling of MUFA double bond positional isomers. Charge-switching enables enhanced detection of fatty acids while epoxidation improves chromatographic resolution and produces diagnostic fragmentation patterns upon collision-induced dissociation (CID), enabling precise localization of double bond positions. The optimized workflow achieves baseline separation of 16:1, 18:1, and 20:1 MUFA isomers within a 20-minute gradient, with reproducible retention times and consistent epoxide yields. The method also supports partial resolution of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and cis/trans isomers. Application to prostate cancer cell lines revealed distinct MUFA isomer profiles associated with aberrant fatty acid desaturase 2 (FADS2) activity, including elevated n-10 and n-12 isomers in tumorigenic lines. These results align with prior studies using other isomer-resolving techniques, validating the method’s analytical performance. This accessible and robust strategy expands the toolkit for lipidomics research, providing a method that is compatible with conventional LC-MS/MS workflows, positioning it as a practical solution for high-resolution isomer analysis in complex biological samples

The Ministerial Awards for Cardiovascular Research are presented annually at the NSW CVRN Showcase and Awards Ceremony to recognise and celebrate outstanding contributions to research in cardiovascula...

The ISHR Australasia ECI Committee is accepting nominations of early career investigators (students all the way up to 8 years post-PhD) in the cardiovascular research field who have achieved something...

RSVP on Humanitix - NSW CVRN – Networking Event 2025 hosted by NSW Cardiovascular Research Network (CVRN). Heart Research Institute (HRI), 7 Eliza St, Newtown NSW 2042, Australia. Monday 10th November...