Who was Victor Chang?
Victor Chang was a pioneering Australian heart surgeon who helped establish the heart transplant program at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney. He was murdered in 1991, and an institute was created in his memory.
Chang was born in Shanghai in 1936 to Australian-Chinese parents and grew up in Hong Kong. He moved to Australia to study medicine at the University of Sydney.
After training in England and the United States, he returned to St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, where he worked as a cardiothoracic surgeon.
Heart transplants
In 1984, Chang and his team performed heart transplants as part of a new national program at St Vincent's Hospital. Fiona Coote, a teenager, became one of the best-known patients when she received a new heart that year.
Chang also worked on developing an artificial heart valve and an artificial heart. He was named Companion of the Order of Australia in 1986 for his services to medicine and to Australia-China relations.
In July 1991, Chang was shot dead in a failed extortion attempt in the Sydney suburb of Mosman. His death shocked the nation. The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute was established in 1994 to continue his work, and in 1999 he was voted Australian of the Century at the People's Choice Awards.
Did You Know?
The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute is based in Darlinghurst, Sydney.