The loss of a loved one led to a life-saving career
Published: 28 January 2025
When Dr Janice Chew-Harris' uncle died from a heart attack at just 48 years old, she knew she wanted to make a difference.
From a young age, Dr Janice Chew-Harris watched as her own family members struggled with hypertension. It inspired her to become a heart specialist, so she could help others.
“For as long as I can remember, my father and his siblings had to take hypertensive medication every day. At the time, I didn’t really understand what it was for,” explains Dr Janice Chew-Harris. “Then, one day, my uncle died from a heart attack when he was just 48 and I watched my cousins grow up without a father.”
At the time, Dr Chew-Harris didn’t understand what had caused her uncle’s heart attack or why some people were more at risk of heart events than others. All she knew was that she wanted to prevent other families going through the same loss as her own.
Sadly, in 2009, she watched history repeat itself when she lost her father-in-law to a sudden heart attack – despite being a fit and active person.
“When I decided to pursue health research as a profession, I knew cardiology was the field for me. That’s why I wanted to work for the Christchurch Heart Institute.”
In 2018, Dr Chew-Harris began her work in heart disease research.
“I previously worked as a medical laboratory scientist where my role was to measure blood markers for diagnosis of certain diseases or blood markers that may help with guiding treatment of a condition. My background gave me the knowledge and expertise in laboratory skills required for my current research which is hopefully, to find new blood markers that could help with earlier detection and ease the burden of heart disease.”
It is estimated that 20,000-30,000 blood proteins exist in human blood circulation and many are yet to be discovered. Proteins usually have functions, and many are essential components participating in interorgan communication networks, necessary to ensure balanced bodily functions.
This is what led Dr Chew-Harris to investigate a blood marker called suPAR, which is a protein that may be related to the inflammation that drives some of the progression in heart disease.
“Currently we have very good markers for heart attack and heart failure diagnosis. Because heart disease is also very complex, and often patients suffer with other pre-existing conditions, detection or underlying inflammation may be beneficial as it could provide incremental information related to risk,” she explains. “Therefore, if we can add suPAR with our other existing markers, it may help identify additional patients who are at risk of poorer prognosis or outcomes or assist in recognising patients who are not responding well to treatment.”
Dr Chew-Harris is one of the many promising heart specialists that have received funding from the Heart Foundation to pursue their research, thanks to our generous donors. She understands, like so many people who have been affected by heart disease, how critical this work is.
“Medical breakthroughs do not just happen overnight. More often, they are the result of painstaking work that sometimes takes many years to complete,” she says. “And any additional new knowledge generated from research studies in the long-run help improve heart disease outcomes. Organisations like the Heart Foundation understand this and are committed to support heart health researchers to help these advancements to occur. Donations to the fund these types of heart research will have a positive impact on not just people in New Zealand but all around the world too.”
“I hope that discoveries through my research could lead to the better detection of people with an increased risk of heart disease and help save lives.”