Australian Dysautonomia and Arrhythmia Research Collaborative
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Lead researchers
Professor Dennis Lau
Dr Lau’s research areas include mechanisms and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. More recently, he is also focusing on postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and Long-COVID related dysautonomia research.
He serves as Associate Editor (Heart Rhythm O2), Heart Rhythm Editor (Heart, Lung and Circulation) and Editorial Board Member for four international journals. He receives regular invitations as faculty in major international conferences (over 60 since 2015).
He has co-authored five international consensus/position statements, seven book chapters and more than 250 peer-reviewed journal articles. He has been awarded in excess of $5 million research funding to date.
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Research team
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Partnerships
- Associate Professor Pravin Hissaria, Immunologist, Royal Adelaide Hospital
- Dr Reynolds Casse, Consultant Neurologist and Nuclear Physician, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Professor Stavros Stavrakis, Cardiologist and Professor at the University of Oklahoma
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Related areas of research
The Australian Dysautonomia and Arrhythmia Research Collaborative (ADARC) is focussed on improving outcomes for those suffering with autonomic dysfunction and arrhythmias.
Dysautonomia (including POTS) remains under recognised with inadequate understanding on its mechanisms and limited therapeutics to improve outcomes for those living with these chronic multi system conditions. Particularly, sufferers with POTS are mostly females of childbearing age, and many are debilitated, with impacts on education, productivity and social wellbeing.
With our ageing population, there is increasing number of individuals suffering from arrhythmias. Apart from those with genetic predisposition to arrhythmias, most heart rhythm disorders result from common risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, sleep apnoea, alcohol excess, diabetes and sedentary lifestyle. Recent research suggests that management of arrhythmias must extend beyond medications and catheter ablation to include aggressive lifestyle and risk factor management to achieve the best outcomes.
Our multidisciplinary group comprises clinician researchers focusing on innovative ways to diagnose, treat and manage POTS and cardiac arrhythmias. The group maintains the only Australian patient registry for individuals diagnosed with POTS, (Oz-POTS registry), and is dedicated to improving outcomes in those suffering from this challenging condition.
Our research group is running several studies and has a current focus on characterising the role of autonomic dysfunction in post-acute sequalae of COVID-19 (Long-COVID). Other studies are aimed towards improving outcomes in POTS, including defining the impact of pharmaceutical agents including the role of immunotherapy, as well as non-pharmacological interventions. ADARC has received several research grants, including one from Standing Up to POTS (Defining the role of autonomic dysfunction in Long Covid) and Dysautonomia International (Plasmapheresis for treatment refractory POTS).