The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute is delighted to extend an invitation to you and your members to come and meet their world leading scientists and see first-hand the ground breaking research that they are doing. Through heart surgery, Dr Victor Chang was able to save hundreds of lives, but he knew that through research, he could save thousands. From his vision the VCCRI has grown to 13 laboratories across five research divisions, working with a single vision – to reduce the incidence, severity, and impact of heart diseases.
Heart disease is Australia’s single number one killer. Every year more than 2,000 babies are born with congenital heart disease. The Institute’s researchers are working to crack the code of 23,000 genes to find the cause of CHD which will help solve the mystery of up to 80% of congenital heart defects. In a world first, last year researchers at the institute made the discovery of how to preserve a heart for transplantation for up to 14 hours, compared to 4 hours previously – a finding that promises to markedly increase the number of hearts available for transplants and improve outcomes of surgery.
The Institute hosts weekly tours from February through to November; tours take place on a Tuesday or Thursday each week. These tours start at 10:30 am and conclude at 12:00 noon.
The format of the tour is as follows:
- Morning Tea on Arrival
- Presentation from a senior scientist about their research
- Tour of the laboratories
To book a tour or a guest speaker, contact Therese Saud on (02) 9295 8759 or email T.Saad@victorchang.edu.au