GRANTS & FELLOWSHIPS

Victor Chang Foundation Grants

There are two types of grants. One focused on funding individuals for the purposes of education and another for innovation (we have called this a general grant).

  • Education: individuals in the field of medicine can apply for an education grant in order to be educated, trained or upgrade their skills in the areas of cardiothoracic surgery, heart and lung transplantation and cardiology.

  • Innovation: individuals can apply for an innovation grant to facilitate innovation in the fields of cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery with a focus on heart transplantation, artificial hearts and artificial valves (mechanical assist devices).

An Australian citizen who is either a cardiac surgeon or cardiologist may also apply for a grant to travel overseas in order to be trained and bring their knowledge back to Australia..

Although applicants may apply throughout the year, applications will only be assessed once a year and applicants may be asked to present their proposal to the Grants Committee. Grants may be extended in certain circumstances. Please read the selection criteria for the Victor Chang Foundation Grants before applying; this document also outlines acquittal procedures.

Victor Chang Foundation Surgical Fellowship

Victor Chang Foundation Surgical Fellowships are awarded to surgeons from Asia.

This grant is awarded for the purpose of training in all areas of cardiac surgery with a particular focus on heart transplant surgery, at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, Australia.

Recipients will have the opportunity to gain knowledge and train under surgeons from one of the world’s leading cardiac units. They will work with a cardiac surgeon/mentor at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney for a period of one year with an option to extend depending on a review of the recipient’s progress.

Fellows are regarded as a fundamental and necessary part of the cardiac unit and will play an integral, hands on role. They will be exposed to every facet of cardiac surgery and will have the opportunity to experience everything from learning cutting edge surgical techniques to participating in collection of donor organs as well as leading at team of medical staff in the operating theatre.

In 2019, the inaugural Victor Chang Surgical Fellowship grant was awarded to Dr Wenjian Jiang from China.

Read more about Dr Jiang here. Read about our second fellow, Dr Takahara here.

Before applying, please read the selection criteria for the Victor Chang Surgical Fellowship before applying; this document also outlines acquittal procedures.

FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS

Dr Shingo Takahara Victor Chang Foundation Fellow
 

Dr Shingo Takahara from Japan (2021 - 2023)

Dr Takahara trained at Tohoku University heart transplantation center in Japan, in association with Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital and Miyagi Children’s Hospital. He has been a specialist in Cardiovascular Surgery since 2017. He obtained his PhD at the Graduate School of Medicine at Tohoku University in Cardiovascular Surgery and Genetic Medicine. He undertook research work in metabolism and inflammation of heart failure as well as ex vivo perfusion systems for ex-planted organs at the Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton for 3 years. After returning to clinical work Dr Takahara worked as a staff surgeon at Miyagi Children’ s Hospital in Japan.

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The inaugural Victor Chang Foundation Surgical Fellow (2019–2021) was awarded to Dr Wenjian Jiang from Beijing in China.

Dr Jiang completed his training in cardiovascular surgery at one of Beijing’s top hospitals for vascular care, Anzhen Hospital. He received his PhD at Capital Medical University and was awarded the Endeavour Research Fellowship and studied at the Centre of Heart Research, the WIMR, Sydney University as a joint PhD student from 2016 to 2017. In 2017, he returned to the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Beijing Anzhen Hospital as a consultant. He is also a leading researcher of Beijing Lab for Cardiovascular Precision Medicine, Capital Medical University, China. The research team focuses on the clinical and basic research of cardiovascular diseases.