PROF WILLIAM CHAN

About Me

Dr. William Chan (MBBS hons, PhD, FRACP, FCSANZ) is a senior consultant cardiologist, interventional & structural cardiologist, and clinician scientist with public clinical appointments at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and Western Health, 2 of the largest health service providers in Victoria. He previously held a consultant cardiologist appointment at Alfred Health (2014-2025). He holds an honorary Professorial academic appointment with the University of Melbourne, and with The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and previously with Monash University. He is the current Head of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Western Health and lead the Interventional Services Program.

Prof Chan is the co-founder of the Western Health Cardiogenic Shock Initiative in collaboration with Alfred Health. This treatment platform, is the first in the State of Victoria, and streamlines the care of very sick patients who present in cardiogenic shock due to severe heart attacks. Traditionally these patients have a very high mortality (about 1 in 2 die from their illness) and treatment options to date have been limited. With the availability of modern mechanical support devices (such as the Impella miniature heart pump), the patients' circulation and heart function can be supported for a few days, thereby, promoting native heart function recovery (resting the heart) while providing blood pressure and flow to vital organs such as the brain and kidneys.

Prof Chan completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Melbourne and advanced cardiology training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. He undertook a PhD postgraduate degree at the Alfred Hospital and BakerIDI Heart and Diabetes Institute (Monash University) focusing on patients with acute myocardial infarction (acute 'heart attacks'), peripheral arterial disease and novel uses of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in myocardial infarction. He was the winner of the 2011 Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ) Clinical Ralph Reader Prize. He completed 3 further years of postdoctoral clinical training and research at the Mount Sinai and Toronto General Hospitals in Toronto, Canada. He has held the prestigious NHMRC Early Career Fellowship enabling him to conduct clinical research in cardiology. He is actively involved in clinical research and supervises research and PhD fellows.

His research work (>150 publications) and interests are centred on improving clinical outcomes in real-world cardiology practice as well as treating, and prognosticating acute cardiac conditions (e.g. cardiogenic shock and acute myocardial infarction, and cardiac arrest) through data obtained from randomized-controlled trials and large-scale, multi-centre registries.

Care

Dr. Chan believes in communicating clearly and working closely with treating GPs, specialists, and patients to ensure the best treatment outcome for any individual patient. In addition to his public service commitments, he also consults and admits patients privately at the Epworth Hospital in Richmond and Western Private Hospital in Footscray.

There is a human side to being unwell, which can often be lost, forgotten and not appreciated in the diagnostic and treatment process. This is very important and impacts on the patient experience of receiving care. Dr. Chan understands this fully and strives to provide time, empathy, and compassion at all stages of care.