Francine Coelho Marques

Dr Francine Marques is a National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, and a former National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Heart Foundation Early Career Fellow (2013-2017). She completed a BSc with first class Honours in Genetics and a Masters in Molecular Biology and Genetics, at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. She then moved to Australia, where she was offered a competitive Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (EIPRS) to complete a PhD at the University of Sydney. Dr Marques was awarded her PhD in 2012, in the field of the molecular genetics of hypertension. Her research interests include finding new therapies and early markers to prevent cardiovascular disease, in particular high blood pressure and heart failure. Her research has shown that a diet reach in fibre is able to lower blood pressure and improve heart function through the modulation of the bacteria in our gut. Dr Marques has published >55 peer-reviewed papers, including in the journals Circulation, Molecular Psychiatry and Nature Reviews Cardiology. She receives funding from the NHMRC, the National Heart Foundation and the Foundation for High Blood Pressure Research. She is part of the executive committee of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia as a co-program manager and part of the mentoring committee of the International Society of Hypertension. She is also an adjunct senior lecturer at Federation University Australia.