MISSION, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to provide grants for:

• Education: to educate, train and upgrade and share skills between Australian and Asian medical and health practitioners in the areas of cardiothoracic surgery, heart and lung transplantation and cardiology.

• Innovation: to facilitate innovation in the fields of cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery with a focus on heart transplantation, artificial hearts and artificial valves.

OUR AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

• Share expertise between Australia and Asia through training in the fields of cardiothoracic surgery, heart and lung transplantation and cardiology.

• Initiate and foster exchange of information, knowledge and practices in the fields of medicine, science and technology.

• Encourage and increase cross-cultural awareness and mutual understanding between Australia and Asia.

• Support funding of study and research into the development and implementation of new technology to overcome heart disease and end stage heart failure.

• Co-operate and collaborate with universities, hospitals, foundations, research institutes, doctors in private practice and others to advance any or all of the above objectives.

Dr Victor Chang first began travelling with his surgical teams to China in 1978 and in 1984 he established the Victor Chang Foundation (VCF). His vision was to give people with heart disease the greatest gift, an opportunity to live.

Dr Chang’s work in medical and cultural exchange with Asia was the catalyst for its creation and he sought to achieve this in two ways.

The first was passing knowledge and surgical skills to other surgeons, giving them the opportunity to learn and practice, particularly in the field of heart transplantation. His first  focus was in China and Indonesia where skills in this area of medicine were badly needed. Surgeons from Asia were sponsored live in Australia to train with Dr Chang and his team and take their learnings back to their home countries. One of the other aspects of this program was the promotion of a positive cultural exchange between Australia and Asia.

The second was his work to create innovative means of prolonging the life of those with heart disease. Along with his team, he was making great strides to invent a prototype of an artificial heart (mechanical assist device), called CHAD (Chang Heart Assist Device), which sadly came to an end when he died.

These were the two motivating factors behind establishment of the Foundation.

Over the past decades, the Victor Chang Foundation has been proud to fund medical professionals from Asia in this unique surgical training program at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. The Foundation has also funded Australian surgical teams overseas to train doctors in regions with the greatest need. It costs approximately AUD$100,000 a year to support one fellow in this program. With each new doctor awarded a fellowship, we are helping to realise Dr Chang’s vision of transferring skills and expertise.

The Victor Chang Foundation continues his work and is the only Australian grant-making not-for-profit organisation that focuses on the exchange of skills and innovation between Australia and Asia in the areas of cardiothoracic surgery and cardiology.

MARCUS CHANG

CEO - Kensington Street Holdings

Marcus Chang has been extremely involved in managing fundraising events for several years and joined the Victor Chang Foundation Board in 2018. He is currently Executive Director at Greencliff and CEO of Kensington Street Holdings where he developed and currently manages the Chippendale lifestyle precinct Kensington Street and Bayswater Road Kings Cross.

DR ALAN FARNSWORTH

AM FRSN MB BS FRACS FRCSEd

Alan Farnsworth is cardiothoracic surgeon emeritus at St Vincent's Private Hospital, Darlinghurst and at Sydney Adventist Hospital, Wahroonga. He holds an Order of Australia for services to heart surgery and is a fellow of the Royal Society of NSW. He has made many trips to China to contribute to the development of heart surgery there, especially to the Tianjin Chest Hospital where he holds the title of Honorary President. He is a former President of the Australasian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons and has lectured and written numerous articles on cardiac surgery.

DON WALLER

BComm (Hons -1st), ACA, FCPA, AGIA, AICD

Don Waller joined the VCF Board in 2018 where he is primarily responsible for finances and governance. Don is an experienced senior finance executive who, during his business career, worked at a CFO/Finance Director levels, and gained wide ranging commercial experience, covering all business functions, with a number of organisations. His employers have included a very large multinational, large and medium sized Australian listed companies as well as private companies. Following retirement from his corporate career Don has contributed to a number of not for profit organisations, including charities.

DR PAUL JANSZ

B.Med, FRACS, PhD

Dr Jansz joined the Board in 2013, taking the role of Board Director. He completed his undergraduate studies in 1992 at the University of Newcastle and Cardiac Surgical Training in Sydney at St Vincent’s, RPAH and Westmead. He furthered his studies by completing a PhD in Transplantation in 2003 at the University of NSW. He completed his Fellowship, along with consultation work, at Papworth Hospital. In 2004 he returned to consultancy at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney in Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery and Heart and Lung Transplantation. His research interests and sub-speciality areas are Transplantation, Mechanical Heart Assist Devices, Robotic Cardiac Surgery, Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery and Heart Failure Surgery.

AMANDA HOOTON

Masters of Arts, University of St Andrews, Scotland

Amanda Hooton is an award winning senior staff journalist at Good Weekend Magazine, with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers. With more than 25 years experience in the Australian and international media, she is a Scottish and British Press Award winner, a Walkley and Kennedy award winner, and has received the RANZCOG Media Award. She has a special interest in medical stories, including those involving heart transplant, cardiac devices and total artificial hearts.

DR EMILY GRANGER

MBBS. (Hons) FRACS

Dr Granger is one of Australia’s pioneering Cardiothoracic and Heart Lung Transplant surgeons. She has performed over 2000 general cardiothoracic operations and over 120 heart and lung transplants. She completed her medical degree at the University of Queensland in 1997 and her surgical fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2006. She has been involved with the NSW Organ Tissue Donation Service and Deceased Donor Organ Procurement Surgeon Committee since 2007. She is the Secretary of the Australia New Zealand Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery. In July 2014, Emily played a major role in the world’s first successful ‘donated after circulatory death’ heart transplant, giving greater hope to heart failure patients around the world. Her areas of interest include adult cardiac and thoracic surgery, surgery for lung cancer, heart lung transplantation, ECMO and TAVI procedures.

PROFESSOR JOHN KELLY AM

RN BA(Hons) LLB Grad Dip Leg Prac FACN(DLF) FIML MAICD MAPS

Adjunct Professor John Kelly joined the Board in 2023, taking the role of Board Director.

He is the National CEO of the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Accreditation Council. John served on the Board, including Vice President of the Geneva based World Heart Federation from 2019 to 2023. He has global expertise in healthcare governance and regulation. He was previously CEO at the Heart Foundation of Australia from August 2016, which signified a return to the heart health field after starting his career as a cardiac nurse. Before that he spent four years as CEO of Aged & Community Services Australia and spent nine years on The Smith Family Board including five years as Chairman. He also has legal experience as a partner in national law firms, as well as academic appointments with the Sydney Nursing School at Sydney University and the Faculty of Health at University of Technology, Sydney. In 2009 he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) as well as receiving the Alumni Award for Excellence from UTS in 2010. In 2010 John was appointed by the Federal Government as the Commonwealth Aged Care Commissioner. In 2019, John became a Distinguished Life Fellow of the Australian College of Nursing.

JESSICA ROWE

AO

Jessica Rowe is an accomplished journalist, television presenter and bestselling author. In 2015 Jessica was honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia for her mental health advocacy work and her contribution to Australian media.

Jessica also has a personal connection with the Foundation. Her grandfather, Dr Harry Windsor, performed the first heart transplant in Australia in 1968 and he also mentored Victor Chang in heart transplant surgery. Like Dr Chang, Harry also made many visits to hospitals in China to work with and train surgeons and was equally responsible for the establishment of a program to enable Chinese surgeons to visit hospitals in Australia and learn from our institutions.

FIONA COOTE

AM

Fiona is well known because of her work advocating and supporting heart transplantation in Australia. She has very close ties with the Victor Chang Foundation because she underwent her first and second heart transplant surgeries under Dr Chang’s team, at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, in 1984 and 1986 respectively. Now over 30 years post transplant, Fiona is one of the longest surviving recipients in the world. Fiona has worked in advertising and the media predominately in the charity sector raising funds and awareness for health related causes. She was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia for her services to the community in 1999.

Members

MATTHEW CHANG

CEO - Rotor Works Aerial Cinematography

Matthew Chang is a Member of the Victor Chang Foundation and plays a vital role in continuing the legacy of his father. Matthew holds a degree in Industrial Design and has a deep interest in developing new and exciting technologies. His interest in innovation is particularly relevant for his role as a Member of the Foundation.

Grants and Fellowships ComMittee

This Committee is a sub-committee of the Board of The Victor Chang Foundation. Read the Grants Committee Charter here.

Their role is to:

1. vet requests for grants

2. audit and assess applications

3. select applicants for both the Victor Chang Foundation General Grants and the Victor Chang Foundation Surgical Fellowships

VCF Surgical Fellowships

Members of the Grants Committee are:

Dr Alan Farnsworth

Dr Emily Granger

Professor Christopher Hayward

Dr Paul Jansz