James J. H. Chong is an interventional cardiologist at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital and head of the Cardiac Regeneration Laboratory at Westmead Institute for Medical Research. His research focuses on developing new and effective treatments for repairing and regenerating the heart. He has over a decade of experience in developing stem cell-based therapies for cardiac regeneration and is currently investigating methods for enhancing the regenerative capacity of pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. He is also interested in understanding the mechanisms by which the cardiac matrix impacts heart repair after myocardial infarction (heart attack), in particular, the effect of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) on cardiac matrix composition and remodelling. His research has been published in top journals in the field of stem cell biology, including Nature, Nature Communications, Cell Stem Cell, and Science Translational Medicine. He has also secured more than AUD10m in funding, including a recent NHMRC/MRFF Investigator grant. He was awarded the prestigious 2024 Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Jian Zhou Medal and won a number of accolades for his work, including a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, and was named one of the Rising Stars in Cardiovascular Research by the NSW Minister for Health.
Clara K. Chow is the academic director of the Westmead Applied Research Centre (WARC), Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. She is a cardiologist and clinical lead of community cardiac services at Westmead Hospital and is also a member of the Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) Governing Board, Sydney, Australia. She is the director of the Australian Stroke and Heart Accelerator (ASHRA). Her recent award highlights include being a finalist for the NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year—Woman of Excellence Category—in 2024 and 2020, respectively; receiving a Research Australia Digital Health Technology—Highly Commended Award; becoming an Honour of Australia recipient as well as a Fellow of the AAHMS in 2023; and being honoured with a Telstra Health—Brilliant Woman in Digital Health Award in 2022. She holds an honorary appointment as the Charles Perkins Centre Westmead Academic co-director and is past president of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand.
