Christchurch Heart Institute FAQs

We are a registered charity of cardiologists, geneticists, biochemists and physiologists researching:

• Blood tests for heart disease diagnosis and prognosis
• Methods for treating heart failure and improving outcomes
• The genetics of heart disease; explaining why heart disease runs in some families

Many thousands of people with heart disease are burdened with exhausting symptoms on a daily basis.

We aim to reduce this number and improve the care of heart disease sufferers.

We work towards reducing the number of people with heart disease. We also help improve the care of heart disease sufferers

Healthier individuals make healthier families which in turn make healthier communities.

You can help save lives by donating either money or equipment.

Find out more about making a donation

• $150 - the cost to perform an echocardiogram on a research participant. This non-invasive test generates ultrasound images of the heart and shows us how it is beating and pumping blood.
• $1,000 - the cost to fund a research assistant for one week. Our research assistants provide technical assistance and perform data analyses for our research studies.
• $2,800 - the cost to purchase a portable centrifuge so that blood samples from research participants can be processed in off-site clinics.

The Christchurch Heart Institute's results are measured in terms of

• New findings discovered
• The number of national and international collaborations we take part in
• We measure the number of patents lodged for potential further development with industrial partners
• The number of publicly contestable grants and industry contracts that we win

We have long-standing partnerships with Auckland, Middlemore and Waikato Hospitals, and many international partners.

• The Board of Trustees of the Christchurch Heart Institute Trust (the Board includes the Dean of the University of Otago, Christchurch campus)
• The University of Otago
• Contestable funding provider - the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Heart Foundation

Our funding is a combination of publicly contestable grants from:

• Health Research Council
• Heart Foundation
• Canterbury Medical Research Foundation
• Lotteries Board
• Other smaller organisations