Dr Alasdair Watson received a training and innovation grant from the Victor Chang Foundation in 2015/2016

He said:

 “My grant allowed me to undertake post-fellowship training at St Paul’s Hospital / University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada – considered to be the world’s leading institution  for transcatheter heart valve implantation (TAVI),* as well as heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support, and laser lead extraction. The overseas training I received has been invaluable, enabling me to introduce the use of a miniature heart pump (Impella) used to treat patients with acute heart failure. I have also been able to establish new protocols for the intensive care management of patients in the early post-heart transplant period, as well as establishing, for the first time, a program of laser extraction of failed or infected pacemaker and defibrillator leads at St Vincent’s Hospital.”

Surgical Fellow awarded to Dr Wenjian Jiang

The inaugural Victor Chang Foundation Surgical Fellow (2019–2021) has been awarded to Dr Wenjian Jiang from Beijing, China, who completed his training in cardiovascular surgery at one of Beijing’s top hospitals for vascular care. He received his PhD at Capital Medical University and was awarded the Endeavour Research Fellowship and studied at the Centre of Heart Research, Sydney University as a joint PhD student. In 2017, he returned to the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Beijing Anzhen Hospital as a consultant. 

Dr Jiang said “It is my great honour to be awarded as the inaugural Victor Chang Foundation Surgical Fellow. Being greatly inspired by the legendary cardiac surgeon Dr Victor Chang, I came to the forefront of cardiac surgery St Vincent’s Hospital from China in August 2019. At the moment, I am learning heart and lung transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, and mini-invasive cardiac surgery from the world-class team directed by Dr Paul Jansz. I hope my experience will reignite the clinical and academic exchange between SVH and my home hospital.”