Charles Perkins Centre Royal Prince Alfred Clinic

Overview 

An ageing population and growing prevalence of chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease , type 2 diabetes and obesity are among the biggest challenges facing society today. More than 65 percent of people over 65 have two or more chronic diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, dementia, lung, liver, and kidney conditions. These diseases are the greatest causes of morbidity and disability, and the leading drivers of rising health-care costs. 

The current epidemic of abdominal obesity and associated metabolic conditions, especially in children, is laying the foundation for an even greater problem in the future. Treasury’s Intergenerational Report 2010 estimated that spending on health care by the federal government as a percentage of gross domestic product will nearly double by 2050. A recent report by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia warned that current health funding arrangements are unsustainable and that new models will need to be considered. 

Our vision 

Our vision is to have a clinical and translational research program at the Charles Perkins Centre Royal Prince Alfred Hospital clinic which provides a powerful new medical approach for the prevention and treatment of multiple diseases that share a common metabolic substrate (figure 1). This new approach, based on published evidence from the biology of ageing field, shows that targeting well-characterized metabolic and molecular pathways can inhibit the accumulation of cellular and tissue damage and dramatically extend health span and influence the clinical progression of multiple metabolic and chronic degenerative conditions (Fontana et al. Science 2010; Green C et al, Nature Rev Mol Cell Biol 2022). 

Our mission

Our mission is to deliver high-quality, evidenced-based and patient-centred care to individuals living with metabolic-related diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity. As a leading-edge clinical and translational research hub in obesity, cardiovascular, metabolism, and healthy aging medicine and science, our aim is to transform the conduct of clinical and translational research away from siloed activities into an integrated and cohesive system that assists both early-stage and established investigators throughout the lifecycle of a research study.

Our objectives are to: 

• promote and facilitate research across the lifespan and in all subsets of the population, including underrepresented people from different races, ethnic groups, abilities, and socioeconomic status
• enable our clinicians and investigators to conduct innovative, high-quality, cost-effective, safe, and ethical interdisciplinary clinical and translational research, including lifestyle, drug and investigational product development
• train the next generation of clinical and translational investigators and research staff
• create an innovative e-health platform to support research and educational activities within and outside the walls of the CPC-RPA clinic
• facilitate the early adoption of new therapies and innovative models of health care delivery to individuals with lived experience of metabolic disease.