FACULTY - Gold Coast Cardiology

Professor Jayasinghe is Medical Director of the Cardiology Department – Gold Coast University Hospital, Professor of Cardiology Griffith University, Clinical Professor of Medicine Macquarie University Sydney, and adjunct Professor of Medicine Bond University Gold Coast.

He has extensive experience as an Interventional cardiologist and is an academic researcher in field of Cardiology worldwide having published articles in different medical magazines/ journals.

Dr. Rihal graduated from the University of Manitoba Medical School and completed his post graduate training at Mayo Clinic.

Following his first faculty position at McMaster University he returned to Mayo in 1995, where he has served in several leadership roles including directing the cardiac catheterization laboratory and chairing the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine.

Since 2016 Dr. Rihal has chaired the Personnel Committee in Rochester and has been on the forefront of developing and instituting institutional approaches to sexual and other harassment.

In 2021 he joined the Mayo Clinic Board of Governors and Trustees and now chairs the Institutional People and Culture Committee, which is charged with development and implementation of people, workforce, and cultural strategies in support of Mayo’s strategic plan.

After completing his studies in medicine at the University of Sydney, Dr Suku Thambar undertook training in
cardiology at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. He then completed a two-year interventional cardiology fellowship
at Rhode Island Hospital in the United States.

In 2000 Dr Thambar was employed as the Senior Staff Specialist Cardiologist at Hunter New England Area
Health, Newcastle, NSW. He holds a conjoint appointment of Senior Staff Interventional Cardiologist at the
John Hunter Hospital, and Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Newcastle. He is also a
Visiting Interventional Cardiologist at the outlying Tamworth Base Hospital.

Associate Professor Hal Rice Dr Hal Rice is Director of Interventional Neuroradiology at Gold Coast University Hospital in Queensland Australia. He studied Medicine at the University of Queensland and Specialist training in Radiology at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital before fellowship training in Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

Returning to the Gold Coast in 2002 he founded the Interventional Neuroradiology service at Gold Coast Hospital and subsequently founded Qscan Radiology Clinics which as the Qscan Group has grown to become one of Australia’s largest Radiology group practices with over 85 practices and 1200 staff members. He along with his colleague Dr Laetitia de Villiers hosted the World Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology 13th Congress in November 2015.

He is dedicated to accelerating innovation in the endovascular treatment of brain vascular abnormalities, aneurysms and acute ischaemic stroke. The service at Gold Coast University Hospital treats patients locally and from throughout Australia with acute stroke patients airlifted up to 2000km from remote locations. The service has been instrumental in developing innovative treatment techniques with flow diversion therapy, Corindus robotic neurovascular procedures and first in human device clinical trials.

He is co-founder of NeuTex Image Guided Therapy Surgical and Robotics Training center at the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct. A facility dedicated to education, training and innovation that utilises state of the art medical imaging equipment and 3D printed anatomic models to precisely replicate surgical treatments for medical specialist training and biomedical innovation. The NeuTex centre regularly hosts visiting specialists from across Australia and throughout the Asia Pacific region for hands on workshops fostering international collaboration and introducing new technology that benefits patients with complex neurovascular disorders.

He is a frequently invited keynote speaker at local and international conferences, a published author in major international journals and founding chair of the national neurovascular NeuroExchange annual conference since 2009. He has extensive board experience previously as the national Treasurer of RANZCR and executive board member of Qscan Group. Currently holding board positions with the Gold Coast Titans NRL team and Griffith University Council.

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Dr Laila Khan
Staff Specialist Imaging Cardiologist The Canberra Hospital
Dr Laila Khan is a Staff Specialist Imaging Cardiologist currently based in the Nation’s Capital at The Canberra Hospital.

Dr Khan undertook Cardiology Advanced Training at The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane and subsequently completed an Advanced Echocardiography Fellowship at Gold Coast Health Service. Dr Khan was the inaugural Advanced Echo Fellow at Gold Coast Health Service and won the 14th Echo Hong Kong Young Cardiologists/Fellow Echo Case Competition in 2023.

Dr Khan has a great interest in both valvular and non-valvular structural interventions, infective endocarditis, pulmonary hypertension and perioperative medicine.

The laboratory of Atta Behfar, M.D., Ph.D., uses state-of-the-art technologies developed at Mayo Clinic to understand heart disease at its most elemental level. With this understanding, Dr. Behfar and his colleagues are doing cardiovascular regeneration research with the aim of developing novel therapies to prevent and cure chronic heart conditions.
Specifically, the group led by Dr. Behfar focuses on development and use of both stem cells and protein-based therapies to reverse injury caused by lack of blood flow to the heart.
Goals include:
• Development and application of a ready-to-use protein-based technology to protect the heart at the time of infarction
• Application of highly reparative cardiopoietic stem cell technology to a broad range of heart failure conditions
Focus areas
• Phase III clinical testing of cardiopoietic stem cells in patients with end-stage heart failure
• First-in-human, or Phase Ib, testing of cardiopoietic stem cells in the setting of heart surgery:
o Valvular heart disease with low ejection fraction
o Ischemic and nonischemic heart disease requiring left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation
o Ischemic heart disease requiring coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG)
• Development and validation of a rapid diagnostic panel to identify patients at highest risk of heart failure following a heart attack
• Optimization and preclinical testing of protein delivery to the heart following infarction

Dr Tony Vo is a staff specialist cardiologist at Gold Coast University Hospital. He performs both coronary and structural interventional with a special interest in PFO and ASD procedures. Dr Vo earned his medical degree from the University of Melbourne
and completed his cardiology training at various Australian teaching hospitals including Royal North Shore Hospital, Ryde Hospital, Launceston General Hospital and Royal Darwin Hospital before settling into sunny Queensland and undertaking his Interventional Cardiology Fellowship at the Gold Coast University Hospital.
He will be going to the United States later this year for further education and training in PFO/ASD closures. He is actively involved in teaching has been recognised and been invited on numerous occasions by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CVRF) to be the Australian ambassador for major internationally recognised interventional cardiology meetings
(TCTAP, AP Valves and Structural Heart and Complex PCI).

Professor Stephen Worthley is a globally renown interventional cardiologist with a particular focus on valve replacements.
He regularly teaches and trains cardiology fellow students in a variety of interventional procedures as well as being active in research with over 230 published papers.

Stephen graduated from Medicine at the Adelaide University. His training included his Cardiology fellowship at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, his PhD at the Mount Sinai Medical Centre in New York, and post-doctoral fellowship at Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne.

Prof Kuljit Singh is a senior staff specialist cardiologist at the Gold Coast University Hospital . He is a coronary and structural interventional cardiologist.
Kuljit completed his PhD in Cardiology at university of Adelaide with a research medal and interventioanl cardiology fellowship at the Ottawa Heart Institute.

Associate Professor Dr Astin Lee is a consultant and interventional cardiologist with a clinic in Wollongong.

Associate Professor Lee graduated from the University of Sydney with First Class Honours in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1997.

He completed his cardiology training in 2004 and an interventional fellowship at Westmead Hospital in 2005.

Associate Professor Lee holds Fellowships from:

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians
The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand
The American College of Cardiology
The European Society of Cardiology
The Royal College of Physicians (London)
The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention.
He is currently the Director of Cardiology at Wollongong and Shellharbour Hospitals. He is also the Head of Cardiac Services in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District overseeing the delivery of cardiac services from Bulli to Milton-Ulladulla.

He is a Clinical Associate Professor of the School of Medicine at the University of Wollongong.

Dr Peter Bailey completed my medical degree at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada graduating in 1981. My neurology fellowship was at the Montreal Neurological Institute at Mc Gill University in Montreal Quebec graduating in 1985.

He worked as a general neurologist with an interest in stroke at Saint John New Brunswick from 1985 to 2008 and volunteered in Malawi Africa for 2 years and then moved to the Gold Coast in 2011 where Dr Bailey currently presides.

Dr Greg Starmer is a Clinical and Interventional Cardiologist with special interests in interventional cardiac and endovascular procedures, including coronary angioplasty and stenting, percutaneous valvuloplasty and structural heart interventions.
Greg then completed his Physician training and Advanced Cardiology training at the Princess Alexandra and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Queensland prior to moving with his family to London, Ontario, Canada where he completed a fellowship in Interventional Cardiology at the London Health Sciences Centre, University Hospital.
Greg returned to Far North Queensland in 2011 and commenced practice at both the Cairns Hospital and Cairns Private Hospital. He is the current Director of Cardiology at the Cairns Hospital and is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the James Cook University School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Ben registered as a Cardiologist in 2009, having completed advanced training at the Princess Alexandra and The Prince Charles Hospitals.

In 2011 Ben completed a two-year fellowship in Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary, Canada. During this time, Ben performed Atrial Fibrillation/SVT ablations and complex device implantations and extractions.

Ben’s special interests include atrial fibrillation, heart rhythm disorders, ablation of arrhythmias and implantation and management of pacemakers and defibrillators.

Dr Sylvio Provenzano (MD, MSc, FRACS) is a cardiothoracic surgeonand a TAVI implanter, with special interests in structural heartdisease, complex cardiac operations and ECMO support.
Dr Provenzano extensively collaborates with cardiologists andintensivists at the GCUH, in research and clinical practice.
Dr Provenzano has a strong background in congenital and valvulardisease, including endocarditis. He has studied and trained in Brazil,USA, Germany and Australia.
Dr Provenzano holds a position of senior specialist at the GoldCoast University and visits the GC Private Hospitals.

Having trained on three continents, Africa, United Kingdom and Australia, Dr Stroebel has been exposed to all aspects of cardiothoracic surgery and a diverse variety of pathology. He believes in holistic patient care and working within a multidisciplinary team for improved patient outcomes, and strive to deliver state-of-the-art, evidence based care to his patients

Dr Naim Mridha is a Staff Specialist Interventional Cardiologist with appointments across Gold Coast University Hospital, Tweed Valley Hospital and The Prince Charles Hospital and a Senior Lecturer with Griffith University. Interested in the integration of coronary physiology and intracoronary imaging in contemporary PCI. Completing MPhil assessing changes in coronary physiology with transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Sue Martin is currently Nurse Unit Manager of the Coronary Care / Cardiac Inpatient Unit at Gold Coast University Hospital. Sue is an expert cardiac nurse, skilled in contemporary senior clinical and managerial positions. After graduating as a Registered Nurse from Kingston University and St George’s Hospital – Joint Faculty of Health Care Sciences, London, Sue worked in the Cardiothoracic Centre at Guys & St Thomas’ NHS Trust in central London for 4 years. After returning to Brisbane she became a Clinical Nurse and Clinical Nurse Teacher at The Prince Charles Hospital in CCU before moving to the Gold Coast in 2014. With a strong clinical background in Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Sue provides nursing leadership, proactively manages and co-ordinates clinical practice. As an experienced clinician, Sue operationalised the CARDiAC Rapid Access Services from concept in 2023 as Clinical Nurse Consultant. Sue has been nominated for the Amy Enderlin Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Award. Sue’s team was acknowledged for their contribution to the GCH Magnet Submission and have been finalists in the Golden Gala Awards for Compassion. In 2024, Sue received a scholarship through the Gold Coast Hospital Foundation in recognition of continued professional development.

Professor Figtree completed MBBS (Hons I) at Sydney University, followed by DPhil in Cardiovascular Medicine at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship from 1999-2002; and clinical cardiology training at Royal North Shore Hospital, 2005-9. Her research is inspired by her work as an interventional cardiologist treating acute heart attacks at Royal North Shore Hospital.
Professor Figtree led the world-first report of an increasing proportion of heart attack patients without Standard Modifiable Risk Factors (coined “SMuRFs”), and their excess early mortality (Lancet 2021) that has spawned a new focus of global research collaboration. This includes the establishment of a multi-centre prospective cohort study and biobank with investment from a diverse range of government, industry and health partners (BioHEART, ACTRN12617000869370) focused on discovering new mechanisms and biomarkers.
She is the founding CMO for the spin out company ProKardia and CSO for CAD Frontiers Pty Ltd. She is involved in guiding the introduction of new clinical pathways into practice through her role Chairing the Heart Foundation Clinical Issues Committee. She is co-author on an international Position Statement on Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (2015), as well as the Lancet Commission for Women and Cardiovascular Disease (2020-21)

Dr Sader has significant experience in Complex Coronary and Structural Heart Disease Interventions including Intracardiac ECHO guided ASD closure and TAVI. Dr Sader obtained his Medical Degree and PhD at The University of Sydney, completed his cardiology training at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Interventional Fellowship in Coronary, Structural Heart and Peripheral Interventions at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

Nick completed his undergraduate education at the University of Newcastle in 1998 and completed cardiology training at the John Hunter Hospital in 2005. Dr Collins then completed Fellowships in Adult Congenital Heart Disease and Interventional Cardiology at the Toronto General Hospital/University Health Network, Toronto, Canada. Particular interests include congenital heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, peri-operative cardiology assessment and interventional cardiology, focusing on complex coronary and interatrial interventions, including atrial septal defect and patent foramen ovale closure.

Dr Collins is currently Director of the Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory at the John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, Australia and conjoint Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle. Nick has been involved in education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as research projects, focusing on congenital heart disease, pulmonary hypertension and interventional cardiology.

Dr Jain is an academic interventional cardiologist with appointments at RPA and MQ Health. His interests include complex coronary and structural heart interventions and interventions for heart failure.

After completing his Cardiology training at St Vincents Hospital, he undertook a PhD for which he won the UNSW Dean’s Award and St Vincent’s Clinical School Prizes for Outstanding Thesis. He then undertook interventional cardiology fellowships at St Vincent’s followed by Tufts Medical Centre, Boston, where he gained experience with a range of cutting-edge technologies.

His career vision is to introduce these devices to Australia to enable treatment for the most critically unwell heart patients.

The goal of Gold Coast Heart Surgery is to provide safe and best practice cardiothoracic care. Our Centre of Excellence in Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery was established to drive best outcome in surgery as part of an all encompassing Centre of Excellence in Surgery at John Flynn Hospital.
Our desire for excellence is driven by ongoing education, peer-to-peer audit, multidisciplinary co-operation, teaching, college examinations and research.
We have a dedication to minimally invasive surgery in aortic surgery, mitral valve repair and thoroscopic lung and tumour resection. Our TAVR (percutaneous aortic valve replacement) programme involves a multidisciplinary team of cardiologists, rehabilitation with surgeons to provide most appropriate aortic valve replacement strategy for every patient.
Mitral repair and replacement has been provided by traditional open approach but our focus is upon minimally invasive (keyhole) and percutaneous (via the femoral vein) Mitraclip methods.
Chest surgery in our practice for lung and mediastinal pathology is almost exclusively via thoroscopic (VATS/keyhole) approach. Our multidisciplinary team of respiratory physicians, radiologists, radiation specialists and oncologists determine best plan for each patient with chest conditions especially lung cancer. Recovery is far less painful and faster with a VATS approach.
I maintain a commitment to self-education and that for our team, visiting university students and junior doctors. I sponsor members of the team to attend national and international conferences. I was convenor for the ANZCTS national scientific conference on the Gold Coast. I am a committed member of the RACS Academy of Surgical Educators and participate in College of Surgeons Physiology and Standard Setting Examination Comittees. Myself and the team regularly travel to other units at home and abroad to maintain and improve our service. We have students and other specialists regularly view our surgical team in action.
I maintain a strong interest in research and innovation which began first as a research degree in neurophysiology looking at real time processing of visual information in rabbit retina. As a member of the International Asia-Pacific Medical Advisory Board for Medtronic I have the privilege to contribute opinion on latest medical device development and implementation. My latest scientific research was to be involved in artificial heart development at the MERF centre.

Professor Vallely has clinical and academic interests in minimising the invasiveness of cardiothoracic surgery and is a world authority on total arterial, anaortic, off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery. He also has interests in minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS and Da Vinci robotic surgery), transcatheter (TAVI and Mitra-Clip) cardiac surgery, thoracic aortic surgery, geriatric cardiac surgery and hybrid procedures including the use of ECMO.
Professor Vallely has a special interest in electrophysiological (pacemakers, defibrillators and CRT) devices and performs more than 250 implants per year. He has presented extensively at national and international conferences and authored or co-authored more than 75 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals. In his spare time he enjoys the occasional round of golf and spending time with his family.
Sydney Heart Team is a uniquely interdisciplinary practice, led by world-leading interventional cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery practitioners. Working together allows our multi-faceted team to provide comprehensive, integrated management of complex cardiovascular problems in a single setting.
Since 2009, we have made significant global contributions to the practice and development of many Structural Heart Disease interventions including TAVI, TEER, transcatheter mitral valve replacement and transcatheter tricuspid valve interventions. The breadth and depth of our collective expertise and experience in transcatheter and surgical therapies maximises the likelihood that outstanding clinical outcomes are achieved, even in the most challenging clinical scenarios.

Dr Arun Dahiya is a staff Cardiologist at the Princess Alexandra Hospital as well as Logan hospital. He has previously worked as staff cardiologist at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital for 8 years from 2012-2018. He completed his cardiology training at Princess Alexandra Hospital in 2009.He returned to Brisbane from USA in 2012 after completing his two-year advanced cardiovascular imaging fellowship at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic, USA. He is also a senior Lecturer at both University of Queensland and Griffith University and is routinely teaching medical students.
He is an invited speaker at national and international conferences and has authored several journal articles as well as book chapters. Apart from general cardiology, he is best known for his work in pulmonary hypertension, coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease and cardiomyopathies including pericardial diseases. He has been recipient of research awards and is on the reviewer panel for major cardiology journals including Circulation. He is the one of the few cardiologists in the country with multimodality cardiac imaging skills and US board certification. He has highest level of training in Echocardiography, Cardiac CT and Cardiac MRI and is training advanced trainees in multimodality imaging. In 2013 he successfully commenced world-class cardiac MRI and cardiac CT services at Logan Hospital.
His motto is to always put his patients first and believes in providing patients with excellent evidence-based care. He is constantly learning and keeping apprised of the latest advances in the field of medicine.
He has admitting rights at private and public hospitals.