ST VINCENT'S HOSPITAL MELBOURNE - Key Persons
Alex is a consultant cardiologist and electrophysiologist with expertise in all aspects of arrhythmia management. He is proficient in complex ablation procedures such as AF and VT ablation, and cardiac pacing including biventricular devices and defibrillator implant. After completing cardiology training at the Alfred Hospital, Alex successfully undertook a combined PhD and clinical fellowship in cardiac electrophysiology and pacing at the Alfred and Royal Melbourne Hospitals. Subsequently he undertook a post-doctoral fellowship at Barts Heart Centre in London (UK), the largest specialised cardiovascular centre in Europe, for further training in complex ablation and pacing techniques. Alex has published extensively and been the recipient of more than 10 national/ international awards for his research in cardiac arrhythmia. He attends patients at St Vincent's Public and Private Hospitals and Royal Melbourne Hospital. Alex holds appointments at the University of Melbourne and Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute, and is involved in research to improve arrhythmia management/ ablation outcomes. As well as performing procedures and consulting patients at St Vincent's and Royal Melbourne Hospitals, Alex consults patients in East Melbourne, Werribee and Shepparton.
Dr Andrew Burns is an Interventional and Echo Cardiologist at St Vincent's Hospital and St Vincent's Private Hospital Melbourne with extensive experience and expertise in Cardiac Catheterisation, Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), Coronary Physiology, Valvular Heart Disease and Pulmonary Hypertension.
Having undertaken a Bachelor of Medical Science whilst studying in Oxford, UK in 1997, Andrew graduated with Honours from his medical degree from the University of Melbourne. He went on to complete Advanced Training in Cardiology at Monash Medical Centre and St Vincent's Hospital in 2005 and was admitted to Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of Physicians in 2006. Andrew then completed a Doctor of Medicine exploring the role of torsion in cardiac physiology and haemodynamics. To complete his training, in 2008 Andrew undertook at two year Interventional Cardiology Fellowship during which he undertook over 1200 PCIs and other invasive cardiac interventions.
Andrew's current research focuses on the assessment of pulmonary and coronary physiology using novel invasive techniques in the catheterisation laboratory and non-invasive echocardiographic techniques. He is currently a co-supervisor of higher degree students whose projects examine the use of sildenafil as a pulmonary vasodilator in pulmonary hypertension and a co-investigator on a number of multicentre trials of novel coronary stent technologies.
Andrew's current clinical commitments include 2 days/week in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory in addition to stress and transoesophageal echocardiography at St Vincent's Public and Private Hospitals as well as consulting in East Melbourne and Melton.
Job Titles:
- Senior Specialist Lipid Clinic, St Vincent 's Hospital Melbourne, 41 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy VIC 3065
Job Titles:
- Professor Andrew MacIsaac
Dr Somaratne completed his advanced physician training in cardiology at the Green Lane Cardiovascular Service (Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand). Following on from this, he undertook a 2-year advanced clinical fellowship in interventional cardiology at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne. During that time, he gained invaluable experience in complex coronary intervention, coronary physiology, intra-coronary imaging, catheter-based renal denervation, balloon aortic valvuloplasty, and transcatheter aortic valve implantation. He recently completed his PhD in preventative cardiology at The University of Auckland (UOA) in New Zealand. To further his interest in clinical teaching, he obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Education, also from The UOA.
Dr Somaratne's interests in the field of cardiology are widespread and varied: clinically, he practices as an interventional cardiologist, while his research interests concentrated on the prevention of heart disease including cardiovascular risk assessment and stratification.