top of page

proudly supports

The Shaun Miller Foundation
 
the Victor Chang
Cardiac Research Institute

making a real difference
'Heart to Heart'
through world leading
congenital heart disease research

Rb08a20bdd9223d51a6ab4039b80f6851.jpg

Lady Diana, Princess of Wales

          Institute Patriarch.

20.jpg
smf png1 2022..png

Site Title

* * * Proffesor Sally Dunwoodie * * *

Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute

Congenital Heart Disease Team

Professor Sally Dunwoodie

Congenital Heart Disease accounts for 30% of deaths of Children under five all around the world.

Every week 42 babies are born with CHD a whopping 80% of all cases of CHD 

remain unsolved because Doctors have no idea what causes this deadly disease.

The Shaun Miller Foundation proudly supports the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute

making a real difference Heart to Heart through world leading Congenital Heart Disease research

but we cannot achieve our goals alone. Find out how you can help by becoming a Heart Cure Angel.

.

Heart  to  Heart

​

​

​

​

​

​

Dr. Victor Chang was the pioneer of modern Heart Transplantation

his achievements include developing Australia’s National Heart Transplant Program

at St Vincent’s hospital which has performed more than 1200 successful

heart, heart-lung and single lung transplants since 1984.

​

He also saw the incredible value of research – playing a key role

in the development of the artificial heart valve

and in later years developed the artificial heart.

​

As a gifted surgeon, respected humanitarian and skilled campaigner

Victor Chang (Yam Him) was born in Shanghai

of Australian-born Chinese parents

he came to Australia in 1953 to complete his secondary schooling

at Christian Brothers College, Lewisham

and graduated from Sydney University in 1962

with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.

​

In 1966 Victor became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons

at the age of 30 and initially trained in general surgery in England

but he commenced serious training

in cardiac and thoracic surgery at the Brompton Hospital

for Chest Diseases in London.

​

It was in London that he met and married his wife, Ann

after two years at the Mayo Clinic in the United States

where he was chief resident he returned to Sydney in 1972

to join the elite St Vincent’s Cardiothoracic Team

which included Dr. Harry Windsor and Dr. Mark Shanahan.

​

In 1973 he was made a Fellow of the Australasian College of Surgeons

and in 1975 he became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

​

A pioneer of the modern era of heart transplantation

Dr. Victor Chang was responsible for the establishment

of the National Heart Transplant Unit at St Vincent’s Hospital in 1984

lobbying politicians and raising funds for it's ongoing work.

​

At the same time he helped teams from St Vincent’s

travel to China, Singapore and Indonesia

where they shared their medical, surgical, nursing

and hospital administration expertise.

​

In 1986 Victor Chang was awarded the Order of Australia

and the University of New South Wales awarded him

it's highest degree of M.D. Honoris Causa
for “scholarly achievement and humanitarian endeavour”.

​

Dr. Victor Chang died in tragic circumstances

in Sydney on 4 July 1991.

​

He was an Honorary Professor of Surgery

to the Chinese Academy of Medical Science in Peking

an honorary Professor of Surgery to Shanghai Medical School

official advisor on cardiac surgery development in Indonesia

and a member of the Australia China Council.

​

In 2000, Dr. Victor Chang was named

Australian of the Century

by the people of Australia.

​

He is remembered as a quiet, charming man 

much loved by his patients and his friends

his wife Ann and his children Vanessa, Matthew and Marcus.

'We Help Mend Broken Heart's'

smf png 2022._edited.png

Dr. Victor Chang A.C

Australian Of The Century

,

​

Professor Sally Dunwoodie, B.Sc. (Hons.), Ph.D.

 

​

Professor Sally Dunwoodie

received her B.Sc. (Hons) in 1986 from the University of Sydney

gained a Ph.D. in 1993 researching the genetic control of muscle development

with Edna Hardeman at the Children’s Medical Research Institute

and the University of Sydney Australia.

​

She next undertook postdoctoral training in the Mammalian Development Unit

at the National Institute for Medical Research, in London, UK

working with Rosa Beddington FRS, she identified novel genes active

during mouse embryo development, which she and others have shown

are essential for normal developmental processes.

​

In 2000, Sally returned to Australia to take up a faculty position

at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.

​

Sally currently holds a NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship

and is a Professor of the Faculty of Medicine

at the University of New South Wales.

​

The work of Sally’s laboratory has received continuous competitive

grant funding since 2001 funds have been awarded from the NHMRC,

Pfizer Foundation Australia, Australian Research Council,

Cancer Institute New South Wales and National Heart Foundation.

​

Since 2000, Sally has delivered invited lectures

at 21 international and 47 national meetings and research departments.

​

Sally’s research goals are to define molecular and cellular

interactions that orchestrate mammalian development

through a mechanistic understanding of genetic

and environmental interactions.

​

In particular her research focuses on development

of the cardiovascular system and placenta

the role of Notch signal transduction in somitogenesis

and vertebral column formation, and the impact

of hypoxia on embryogenesis,

research projects encompass human clinical genetics

and mouse embryogenesis.

​

Sally was awarded the inaugural Pfizer Foundation Australia

Senior Research Fellowship in 2003, in 2008 she was awarded

the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cell and Developmental

Biology (ANZSCDB) inaugural Young Investigator Award.

​

Sally is an Associate Editor of the International Journal

of Developmental Biology, an Editorial Board Member of Mechanisms

of Development and Mechanisms of Development,

and a Guest Editor of Current Opinion in Genetics and Development.

​

Sally regularly reviews for international journals

national and international granting agencies

has been a member of grant review panels for the NHMRC

and has served as a member of the NHMRC Assigners Academy.

​

Sally has served as the NSW state representative for the ANZSCDB

and has contributed to the organisation of both

national and international conferences.

​

Of note, in 2005 Sally co-convened

the 15th International Developmental Biologists Congress

and in 2013 co-convened The Hunter Meeting

which is Australia’s premier Cell and Developmental Biology Meeting

Laboratory Head since 2000.
 

.

bottom of page