Danielle Kamato
Dr Danielle Kamato is an NHMRC Early Career Fellow in the UQ School of Pharmacy.
Current research
Cardiovascular disease is the largest cause of death in Australia today. In addition to known risk factors, bacterial infections worsen the outcome of atherosclerosis. Research shows that patients with periodontal disease are almost twice as likely to have heart disease and for many Australians this hits close to home with 23 per cent of all Australians having moderate or severe periodontal disease, while more than 4.2 million Australians have some form of cardiovascular disease.
Unravelling the mechanism relating periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease will enable the identification of a suitable therapeutic target. The translational pathway is that this bacteria is leaked from the diseased gum into the circulation and is having a profound inflammatory effect altering metabolic functions and pathologies such as the development of cardiovascular disease.
Dr Kamato's research is focused on identifying the biological mechanisms that link the bacteria which is leaked into the circulatory system from gums and its contribution to the formation of cardiovascular disease. Once the mechanism is better understood this will allow for future drug development.
Career highlights
- Receiving an NHMRC – Peter Doherty ECR fellowship and a National Heart Foundation Postdoctoral fellowship (2019-2022).
- More than $90,00 internal (UQ) seeding grants.
- 37 publications with H-index of 13, based on over 550 citations.
