NSW Government
NSW Health and Medical Research

Elite grants bring best and brightest cardiovascular researchers to NSW

Internationally outstanding cardiovascular researchers from Canada, Japan, New Zealand and China, are relocating to NSW under funding offered by NSW Health through the Office for Health and Medical Research.

With heart disease killing one person every 12 minutes, investment in cardiovascular research to predict, prevent and treat it more accurately is important not only to keep people healthy, but also to reduce pressure on our health system.  

Associate Professor Khoon Lim, currently located at the University of Otago in New Zealand, will move to the University of Sydney, to develop new wound dressings for diabetic foot ulcers using 3D bioprinting technology.
Associate Professor Khoon Lim, will relocate from the University of Otago in New Zealand to the University of Sydney. Photo supplied.

Bringing in some of the best and brightest cardiovascular researchers to NSW from other parts of the world supports research in new discoveries and innovative therapies and leverages existing research already underway across medical institutes, hospitals and universities. 

Internationally outstanding cardiovascular researchers from Canada, Japan, New Zealand and China, are relocating to NSW under funding offered by NSW Health through the Office for Health and Medical Research.

The NSW Health Cardiovascular Elite Postdoctoral Researcher Grants attract talented cardiovascular researchers to NSW, from other states of Australia and around the world. This funding increases the national and international competitiveness of NSW cardiovascular research and strengthens the state’s cardiovascular research capacity.   

The merit-based competitive Cardiovascular Elite Postdoctoral Researcher Grants are supporting four outstanding cardiovascular researchers to relocate to NSW and each recipient will receive funding up to $1 million over three years.  

Dr Klimis Chow and Clara Chow who will continue to work on this program from Canada, with Dr Klimis Chow when he is in Australia.
(L-R) Dr Harry Klimis and Professor Clara Chow. Dr Klimis will relocate from McMaster University in Canada, to the Westmead Applied Research Centre. Photo supplied.

The four recipients of the Cardiovascular Elite Postdoctoral Researcher Grants are:  

  • Dr Harry Klimis, currently at McMaster University in Canada, will return to the Westmead Applied Research Centre to continue his work on the links between cancer and cardiovascular disease.   
  • Dr Yosuke Katayama, currently at Wakayama Medical University in Japan, will move to the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, to test an innovative less invasive treatment for heart attack.  
  • Associate Professor Khoon Lim, currently located at the University of Otago in New Zealand, will move to the University of Sydney, to develop new wound dressings for diabetic foot ulcers using 3D bioprinting technology.   
  • Dr Zien Zhou, currently a Neuroradiologist and a Cardiovascular Clinical Researcher at Ren Ji Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, will move to The George Institute for Global Health, UNSW Sydney. His research will focus on the association between hidden changes to the blood vessels in the brain, an increased risk of bleeding and the safety of clot-preventing and busting treatments for cardiovascular disease.    

The Cardiovascular Elite Postdoctoral Research Grants are funded under NSW Health’s Cardiovascular Research Capacity Program, which invests $150 million into cardiovascular research over 10 years. 

(L-R) Dr Zien Zhou will relocate from the University School of Medicine in China to The George Institute for Global Health, UNSW Sydney. Dr Yosuke Katayama will relocate from the Wakayama Medical University in Japan to the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District. Photos supplied.

Updated 2 years ago