CRE ACTIONS Associate Investigators

Professor Toru Masuzawa is Vice-president, Japanese Society for Artificial Organs and Secretary General, Asia-Pacific Society for Artificial Organs and has close connections with the Japanese scientific society for Mechanical Assist Devices. Professor Masuzawa will lead the Japanese node of CRE ACTIONS contributing extensive experience in the field of magnetic levitation systems for artificial organs to the physiological control aspects of Project 4. Professor Masuzawa will facilitate engineering student visits to the CRE and will assist in organising the first annual student conference.

Dr Suhaini B Kadiman directs anaesthetic, cardiac surgical and intensive care research, at the Malaysia National Heart Institute. Dr Kadiman is the Malaysian lead in CRE ACTIONS. He will co-supervise PhD students and assist in the development of research leadership skills through coordination of student conferences. Dr Kadiman will facilitate the development of new training programs in MADs and the translation of new knowledge from this CRE into to clinical practice in Malaysia.

Dr David Platts is a Senior Staff Specialist with the Queensland Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Unit and the Department of Echocardiography, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane. Dr Platts holds a Doctor of Medicine (Kings College, London) in contrast echocardiography and is recognised nationally as a leader in this area. Dr Platts leads The Prince Charles Hospital contrast research programme and has published internationally on the subjects of contrast and mechanical cardiac support. Dr Platts will further the clinical applications of contrast echocardiography though his doctoral research in Project 3 and will assist with student conference organisation.

Associate Professor Kiran Shekar is a Senior Intensive Care Specialist at The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane who specialises in cardiothoracic intensive care and mechanical cardiorespiratory support. Professor Shekar’s research interests include pathophysiology of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) and resulting pharmacokinetic (PK) alterations in patients receiving ECLS. Professor Shekar has completed a PhD and numerous simulated circuit, animal and human studies in this area.  Professor Shekar will co-ordinate the CRE ACTIONS PK projects including a multi-centre clinical PK studies. He has collaborated with Associate Investigator Professor Maree Smith in developing novel drug assays and will work with Chief Investigator Professor Jason Roberts to develop evidence based guidelines for drug therapy during mechanical assist device support.

Dr Einly Lim is a Senior Lecturer, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Malaya. Dr Lim has developed and validated a complex cardiovascular-pump interaction model, which has been used extensively by various research groups to develop suitable control algorithms for implantable rotary blood pumps (IRBP). Dr Lim’s research expertise includes computational modelling, physiological control and cardiac rehabilitation. She has received RM1.6 million in research funding from the Malaysian Government for the development of physiological control algorithms for IRBPs. Dr Lim will play a pivotal role in developing the patient-device interface (Project 4) and in integrating control and clinical practice within the Malaysian node in collaboration with Associate Investigator Doctor Suhaini Kadiman.

Professor Qingyu Wu is a Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, Director, Heart Center, President, First Hospital of Tsinghua University and Dean, Medical Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China with a special interest in cardiac assistance. Professor Wu will be the Chinese lead for CRE ACTIONS and will facilitate trainee clinicians and engineers visiting the CRE for the development of research skills.

Professor Maree Smith is Executive Director of the Centre for Integrated Preclinical Drug Development and Head of the Pain Research Group, School of Pharmacy at The University of Queensland. Together with Chief Investigator Professor Jason Roberts, Professor Smith will lead the pharmacokinetic analysis of drugs used in Mechanical Assist Device therapies. Professor Smith will play a key role in the translation of new pharmacokinetic knowledge to clinical practice.

Dr Daniel Timms is a Mechanical Engineer with a PhD in cardiovascular engineering and is the founding director and Chief Technology Officer of BiVACOR Inc, a USA based company continuing the development of the BiVACOR rotary total artificial heart. Dr Timms holds a joint position with the Texas Heart Institute, leading the engineering development and testing of mechanical circulatory support devices. Together with Chief Investigator John Fraser, Dr Timms co-founded BiVACOR Pty Ltd and the ICETLab at The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane. Dr Timms has extensive experience developing rotary blood pumps and mock circulation loops. Dr Timms will contribute to the design, characterisation and testing of therapeutic devices in Project 4.

Professor Chris Hayward is a Senior Cardiologist at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney where he has established a dedicated mechanical support research programme. Associate Professor Hayward is an expert in Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) rheology and the physiological responsiveness of VADs during exercise Associate Professor Hayward will provide a cardiological perspective to the challenge of improving the physiological interface of cardiorespiratory Mechanical Assist Devices and will collaborate with the engineering and surgical teams.