Professor Ritchie [FISHR, FCSANZ; FAHA] is Professor and Head of Drug Discovery Biology (Theme Leader) and Head of Heart Failure Pharmacology in the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), Monash University. Prof Ritchie is a cardiac pharmacologist internationally-recognised for her translational research focused on arresting the progression of heart failure. Her career spans discovery, preclinical & clinical research, enabled by long-term collaborations across Monash, the Victorian Heart Institute & the Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute.

Biography

Rebecca completed her undergraduate and PhD studies at the University of Adelaide. Her PhD focused on predictors of myocardial function in vivo in patients with ischaemic heart disease, including development of the first quantitative model of the force-interval relationship in human myocardium. Her postdoctoral training — Wayne State University 1995–97, USA and the Florey Institute 1997–2002 — preceded her recruitment to the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in late 2002. During her 17 years at the Baker, she was promoted to lab head (2008), Chair of Science Faculty (2017) and to the institute’s Management Round Table (2017). In 2019, she was recruited to Monash University (together with her Heart Failure Pharmacology team) to continue her program of heart failure research, and to lead the Drug Discovery Biology Theme (a head of unit role).

The research achievements of Professor Ritchie to date include >155 publications in leading international journals (>9200 citations, H index 52, GS) and continuous peer-reviewed funding since 1999 (comprising support from NHMRC, MRFF, Diabetes Australia and the Heart Foundation, in addition to industry collaborations including CSL). Her contributions to cardiac pharmacology and to professional scientific organisations are outlined below, and have been recognised by the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists (ASCEPT), International Society of Heart Research (ISHR), American Heart Association (AHA), Hypertension Australia, Diabetes Australia, Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ) and the British Pharmacology Society (BPS).

A link to her full list of publications can be found here. ‪Rebecca Ritchie - ‪Google Scholar

Selected Awards and Achievements

• 2024 NHMRC Australia Ideas Grant (Lead Investigator, 2024-2027)
• 2023 MRFF– Cardiovascular Health Mission Grant (Lead Investigator, 2023-2024)
• 2023 NHMRC Australia Development Grant (Lead Investigator, 2023-2024)
• 2023 HeartOtago Keynote
• 2023 Heart Foundation Australia Vanguard Grant (Lead Investigator, 2023-2024)
• 2023 Diabetes Australia Research Program Research Grant (Lead Investigator, 2023)
• 2022 Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists (ASCEPT) ASCEPT Lecturer Award (plenary speaker),
• 2022 Colin Johnston Lecturer Award (plenary speaker, Hypertension Australia)
• 2021 Diabetes Australia Research Program Research Grant (Lead Investigator, 2021)
• 2021 Heart Foundation Australia Vanguard Grant (Lead Investigator, 2021-2022)
• 2021 Fellow, International Society of Heart Research (ISHR)
• 2020 NHMRC Australia Equipment Grant (Lead Investigator, 2020)
• 2019 ASCEPT visitor to the British Pharmacology Society
• 2019 NHMRC Australia Project Grant (Lead Investigator, 2019-2022)
• 2018 Diabetes Australia Research Program Research Grant (Lead Investigator, 2018)
• 2018 Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund (Lead Investigator, 2018-2019)
• 2017 NHMRC Australia Project Grant (Lead Investigator, 2017-2020)
• 2017 NHMRC Australia Project Grant (Lead Investigator, 2017-2019)
• 2017 Diabetes Australia Research Program Research Grant (Lead Investigator, 2017)
• 2015 NHMRC Australia Project Grant (Lead Investigator, 2015-2018)
• 2014 NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship
• 2013 American Heart Association International Fellow
• 2013 NHMRC Australia Project Grant (Lead Investigator, 2013-2015)
• 2013 Diabetes Australia Research Trust Millennium Award Lead Investigator, 2013-2014)
• 2012 ASCEPT Achievement Award for services to Australasian pharmacology

Adjunct Professorial Roles

• Baker Dept of Cardiometabolic Health, The University of Melbourne
• Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
• School of Life Sciences, La Trobe University
• Dept of Pharmacology, Monash University

Key Contributions to Professional Organisations

• Deputy Chair, Victorian Cardiovascular Research Network Interim Steering Committee (2024--ongoing)
• Board member, Society of Heart and Vascular Metabolism (SHVM, 2024-2027)
• Scientific Advisory Committee, Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (2023-2026)
• Scientific Committee member, Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ, 2023-2026)
• Scientific Program Committee and Symposium Theme Co-chair (Cardiac Metabolism), International Society of Heart Research World Congress, Nara, Japan (2023-2025)
• Member, Victorian Cardiovascular Research Network Interim Steering Committee (2023--ongoing)
• Associate Editor & Editorial Board, Pharmacological Reviews (2023-2025)
• Scientific Program Co-Chair, 2026 IUPHAR World Congress of Pharmacology (2023-2026)
• Australian Stroke and Heart Research Accelerator (ASHRA) Education and Training Committee Meeting (2022-ongoing)
• International Society of Heart Research (ISHR) International Council Member-at-Large (2022-2028)
• Scientific Program Committee International Society of Heart Research World Congress, Berlin (2020-2022)
• Victorian Heart Institute Research Leadership Committee (2020-ongoing)
• Victorian Heart Institute New Technologies Working Group (Co-Chair 2020-2023, member 2023-ongoing)
• member, Victorian Heart Institute
• Co-Director of Drug Discovery and Translation Flagship, Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (2019-2023)
• Diabetes Australia Research Program Research Advisory Panel (2018-2022)
• Board member, Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists (ASCEPT, 2017-2020)
• Scientific Program Committee International Society of Heart Research World Congress, Beijing (2017-2019)
• Scientific Program Committee, 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting of CSANZ and ISHR (Brisbane, 2017-2018)
• International Society of Heart Research Australasian section Council & Membership Secretary (2016-2022)
• NHMRC Australia Assigners Academy (2015-2016)
• NHMRC Australia Grant Review Panels (2012-2014, 2017-2021)

Publication highlights (Selected from 90 in the last 10 years)

• Sharma A, Wood S, Bell JS, De Blasio MJ, Ilomäki J, Ritchie RH. (2023). Sex differences in risk of cardiovascular events and mortality with sodium glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors versus glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists in Australians with type 2 diabetes: A population-based cohort study. The Lancet Regional Health-Western Pacific 33:100692. Published online January 30, 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2023.100692.
• Cohen CD*, De Blasio MJ*, Farrugia GE, Dona MSI, Hsu I, Prakoso D, Kiriazis H, Krstevski C, Nash DM, Li M, Gaynor TL, Deo M, Drummond GR, Ritchie RH^#, Pinto AR^#. (2023). Mapping the Cellular and Molecular Landscape of the Diabetic Myocardium: Focus on Cardiac Non-Myocytes in a Murine Model of Type-2 Diabetes. iScience 2023 Aug 28;26(10):107759. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107759. JOINT SENIOR AND CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
• Sharma A, De Blasio MJ, Ritchie RH. (2023). Current challenges in the treatment of cardiac fibrosis: recent insights into the sex-specific differences of glucose-lowering therapies on the diabetic heart: IUPHAR Review 33". British Journal of Pharmacology 180(22):2916-2933.
• Yi XY, Tran E, Odiba JO, Qin CX#, Ritchie RH^#, Baell JB^#. (2023) The formyl peptide receptors FPR1 and FPR2 as a target for inflammatory disorders: recent advances in the development of small-molecule agonists. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (in press, accepted 20-11-23). JOINT CORRESPONDING AND SENIOR AUTHOR
• Prakoso D, Lim SY, Erickson JR, Wallace RS, Lees JG, Tate M, Kiriazis H, Donner DG, Henstridge DC, Davey JR, Qian HW, Deo M, Parry LJ, Davidoff AJ, Gregorevic P, Chatham JC, De Blasio MJ*, Ritchie RH*. (2022). Fine-tuning the cardiac O-GlcNAcylation regulatory enzymes governs the functional and structural phenotype of the diabetic heart. Cardiovasc Res 118: 212-225.
• Velagic A, Li JC, Qin CX, Li M, Deo M, Marshall SA, Anderson D, Woodman OL, Horowitz JD, Kemp-Harper BK, Ritchie RH. (2022). Cardioprotective Actions of Nitroxyl Donor Angeli's Salt are Preserved in the Diabetic Heart and Vasculature in the Face of Nitric Oxide Resistance. British Journal of Pharmacology 179(16):4117-4135.
• Prakoso D, Tate M, De Blasio MJ, Ritchie RH. (2022). Current Landscape of Pre-Clinical Models of Diabetic Cardiomyopathy. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 43(11):940-956.
• Qin CQ*, Norling LV*, Vecchio EA, Brennan EP, May LTM, Wootten D, Godson C, Perretti M#, Ritchie RH#. (2022). Invited Review: Formyl Peptide Receptor 2: Nomenclature, Structure, Signalling and Translational Perspectives: IUPHAR Review 35 British Journal of Pharmacology 179: 4617-4639.
• Sharma A, Choi J, Stefanovic N, Al Sharea A, Simpson D, Mukhamedova N, Jandeleit-Dahm K, Murphy AJ, Sviridov D, Vince JE, Ritchie RH, de Haan JB. (2021). Specific NLRP3 inhibition protects against diabetes-associated atherosclerosis. Diabetes 70 (3), 772-787.
• Figtree GA, Broadfoot K, Casadei B, Califf R, Crea F, Drummond GR, Freedman JE, Guzik T, Harrison D, Hausenloy DJ, Hill JA, Januzzi J, Kingwell BA, Lam CSP, MacRae CA, Misselwitz F, Miura T, Ritchie RH, Tomaszewski M, Wu JC, Xiao J, Zannad F. (2021). A call to action for new global approaches to cardiovascular disease drug solutions. European Heart Journal 42(15):1464-1475. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehab068 (co-publication in Circulation).
• Cohen CD, De Blasio MJ, Lee MKS, Farrugia GE, Prakoso D, Krstevski C, Deo M, Donner DG, Kiriazis H, Flynn MC, Gaynor TL, Murphy AJ, Drummond GR, Pinto AR*, Ritchie RH*. (2021). Diastolic dysfunction in a pre-clinical model of diabetes is associated with changes in the cardiac non-myocyte cellular composition. Cardiovascular Diabetology 20 (1): 1-12; doi.org/10.1186/s12933-021-01303-9.
• Qin CX#, Anthonisz J*, Leo CH*, Kahlberg N*, Velagic A, Li M, Jap E, Woodman OL, Parry LJ, Horowitz JD, Kemp-Harper BK, Ritchie RH#. (2020). NO resistance, induced in the myocardium by diabetes, is circumvented by the NO redox sibling, nitroxyl. Antiox Redox Signal 32(1):60-77.
• Prakoso D*, De Blasio MJ*, Tate M, Kiriazis H, Donner DG, Qian HW, Nash D, Deo M, Weeks KL, Parry LJ, Gregorevic P, McMullen JR#, Ritchie RH#. (2020). Gene therapy targeting cardiac phosphoinositide 3-kinase (p110α) attenuates cardiac remodeling in type 2 diabetes. Am J Physiol 318: H840-H852.
• Ritchie RH, ED Abel. (2020). Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, and CVD Compendium. Invited Review: Basic mechanisms of diabetic heart disease. Circulation Research 126: 1501-1525.
• Qin CX, Rosli S, Deo M, Cao N, Walsh J, Tate M, Alexander AM, Donner D, Horlock D, Li R, Kiriazis H, Lee MKS, Bourke JE, Yang YH, Murphy AJ, Du XJ, Gao XM, Ritchie RH. (2019). Cardioprotective actions of the Annexin-A1 N-terminal peptide, Ac2-26, against myocardial infarction. Frontiers in Pharmacology 10:269. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2019.00269.
• Deora GS*, Qin CX*, Vecchio EA, DeBono AJ, Priebbenow DL; Brady RM, Beveridge J, Teguh SC, Deo M, May LT, Krippner G, Ritchie RH#, Baell JB#. (2019). Substituted pyridazin-3(2H)-ones as highly potent and biased formyl peptide receptor agonists. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 62(10): 5242-5248. JOINT SENIOR AUTHOR.
• Tate M, Higgins GC, De Blasio MJ, Lindblom R, Prakoso D, Deo M, Kiriazis H, Ramm G, Baeza-Garza CD, Caldwell ST, Hartley RC, Krieg T, Murphy MP, Coughlan MT#, Ritchie RH#. (2019). The mitochondria-targeted methylglyoxal sequestering compound, MitoGamide, is cardioprotective in the diabetic heart. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 33(6):669-674 doi:10.1007/s10557-019-06914-9.
• Marwick TH*; Ritchie RH*; Shaw JE, Kaye DM. (2018). Invited State-of-the-art Review. Implications of underlying mechanisms for the recognition and management of diabetic cardiomyopathy. J Am Coll Cardiol.71(3): 339-351. JOINT FIRST AUTHOR.
• Qin CX*, May LT*, Sexton PM, DeBono AJ, Baell JB, Christopoulos A#, Ritchie RH#. (2018). Correspondence: Reply to 'Compound 17b and formyl peptide receptor biased agonism in relation to cardioprotective effects in ischaemia-reperfusion injury'. Nature Communications 9, Article 530, pages 1-4. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02656-0.
• Sharma A*, Tate M*, Mathew G, Vince J, Ritchie RH#, de Haan JB#. (2018). Invited review: Oxidative stress and NLRP3-inflammasome activity as significant drivers of diabetic cardiovascular complications: therapeutic implications. Frontiers in Physiology 9, Article 114, pages 1-15. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2018.00114. JOINT SENIOR AUTHOR.
• Qin CX*, May LT*, Li R, Cao N, Rosli S, Deo M, Alexander AE, Horlock D, Bourke JE, Yang YH, Stewart AG, Kaye DM, Du XJ, Sexton PM, Christopoulos A, Gao XM#, Ritchie RH#. (2017). Small-molecule-biased formyl peptide receptor agonist compound17b protects against myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury in mice. Nature Communications 8, 14232, pages 1-13, doi: 10.1038/ncomms14232..
• Prakoso D*, De Blasio MJ*, Qin CX, Rosli S, Kiriazis H, Qian HW, Du XJ, Weeks KL, Gregorevic P, McMullen JR#, Ritchie RH#. (2017). Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (p110α) gene delivery limits diabetes-induced cardiac NADPH oxidase and cardiomyopathy in a mouse model with established diastolic dysfunction. Clinical Science 131: 1345-1360.
• Tate M, Deo M, Cao AH, Hood SG, Huynh K, Kiriazis H, Du XJ, Julius TL, Figtree GA, Dusting GJ, Kaye DM, Ritchie RH. Insulin replacement limits progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy in the low-dose streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat. (2017). Diabetes & Vascular Disease Research 14(5): 423-433.
• Qin CX, Finlayson SB, Al-Sharea A, Tate M, De Blasio MJ, Deo M, Rosli S, Prakoso D, Thomas CJ, Kiriazis H, Gould E, Yang YH, Morand EF, Perretti M, Murphy AJ, Du XJ, Gao XM#, Ritchie RH#. (2017). Endogenous annexin-A1 regulates haematopoietic stem cell mobilization and inflammatory response post myocardial infarction in mice in vivo. Scientific Reports 7: Article 16615, pages 1-14. Author correction (spelling of an author surname) 8: Article 7185.
• Bowden MA*, Tesch GH*, Julius TL, Rosli S, Love JE, Ritchie RH. (2015). Earlier onset of diabesity-induced adverse cardiac remodeling in female compared to male mice. Obesity 23:1166-1177.
• Cao N, Wong YG, Rosli S, Kiriazis H, Huynh K, Qin C, Du XJ, Kemp-Harper BK, Ritchie RH. (2015). Chronic administration of the nitroxyl donor 1-nitrosocyclohexyl acetate limits left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in a mouse model of diabetes in vivo. Circ Heart Fail 8:572-581.
• De Blasio MJ*, Huynh K*, Qin CX, Rosli S, Kiriazis H, Ayer A, Cemerlang, Stocker R, Du XJ, McMullen JR#, Ritchie RH#. (2015). Therapeutic targeting of oxidative stress with coenzyme Q10 counteracts exaggerated diabetic cardiomyopathy in a mouse model of diabetes with diminished PI3K(p110α) signalling. Free Rad Biol Med 87:137-147.
• Kemp-Harper BK, Horowitz JD, Ritchie RH. (2016). Invited Leading Article: Therapeutic potential of nitroxyl (HNO) donors in the management of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). Drugs 76(14): 1321-1412.
• Huynh K, Bernardo BC, McMullen JR*, Ritchie RH*. Invited review: Diabetic cardiomyopathy: Mechanisms and new treatment strategies targeting antioxidant signaling pathways. (2014). Pharmacol Ther 142: 375-415.
• Qin CX, Yang YH*, May LT*, Gao XM, Stewart A, Tu Y Woodman OL, Ritchie RH. (2014). Invited review: Cardioprotective potential of annexin-A1 mimetics in myocardial infarction. Pharmacol Ther 148:47-65.

A full list of her publications can be found here. ‪Rebecca Ritchie - ‪Google Scholar

Our Research

Heart failure, a major cause of death, is predicted to develop in 1 in 5 people in their lifetime. As the largest contributor to non-communicable preventable hospitalisations, heart failure is a national priority area. For most patients, there is no effective cure for heart failure. Our research in the Heart Failure Pharmacology team focus targets this gap, seeking to identify optimal treatments for different forms of heart failure, and whether there are sex-specific differences in these.

We have a particular focus on three major types of heart failure:

• diabetes-associated heart failure (type 1 and type 2 diabetes);
• heart failure after myocardial infarction (heart attack); and
• heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (known as HFpEF). Of note, women are particularly susceptible to diabetes-associated heart failure, and HFpEF (hence our focus on sex differences).

We have extensive experience with preclinical models of the major heart failure phenotypes, both in vivo and human iPSC-derived in vitro, in addition to clinical samples through our numerous key clinical collaborations. Our team is driving a pipeline program of drug candidates with unique mechanism(s) of action through preclinical development and towards new clinical therapeutics for heart failure, to target this critical clinical need and hence ultimately improve patient outcomes.