SAHI Cardiac Health Forum

About the Panel

Thousands of students spend their degrees studying the human heart, its failures, its resilience, and the science that keeps it beating. Somewhere in the coursework, the human reality behind it can start to feel far away. This is an evening to close that gap. Not a lecture. A conversation between three people who meet the same problem from three different places. Walk in overwhelmed by your work. Walk out remembering exactly why you chose it.

About the Speakers

Leigh Bell - Patient

President, Cardiomyopathy Australia New Zealand

Diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in 1978, aged four, she spent the following five decades inside the cardiac system, undergoing open-heart surgery, multiple ICDs, ablations, and eventually end-stage heart failure, before receiving a heart transplant in 2021. She comes from a large family affected by genetic heart disease. Before her transplant, she worked in executive management across the mining and steel industries; she now leads a national patient-led not-for-profit supporting the cardiomyopathy community.

Professor David Celermajer - Clinician

Scandrett Professor of Cardiology, University of Sydney · Cardiologist, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital · Clinical Director, Heart Research Institute

One of Australia's most cited cardiovascular researchers, with more than 600 publications and over 80,000 citations. He directs Adult Congenital Heart Services at RPA and is one of the world's leading authorities on treating adults with congenital heart disease. A University Medallist and Rhodes Scholar, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2014 for his service as a clinician and researcher in cardiovascular disease.

Professor Arnold Ju - Researcher

School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Sydney · Head, Mechanobiology and Biomechanics Laboratory

An engineer and biophysicist who applies engineering principles to the cardiovascular system at molecular and cellular scales. His lab develops microtechnologies to detect the earliest signs of heart attack and stroke and has pioneered tools including blood clot-on-chip microfluidic devices and single-cell biomembrane force probes. In 2023, he became the first engineer to receive the $8 million Snow Fellowship and was named one of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific.