Dr Dominic completed his medical degree at the University of Melbourne, followed by specialist training in Cardiology in Melbourne. He undertook further sub-specialist training in electrophysiology and cardiac devices, including pacemakers and defibrillators. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP).

Dr Dominic holds an honorary clinical lecturer position at the University of Melbourne. He has received a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) postgraduate scholarship and a Heart Foundation PhD scholarship.

His clinical focus includes pacing techniques and the use of cardiac devices in the management of heart blocks and cardiomyopathies.

Dr Dominic provides consultations aimed at supporting patient understanding of heart health and works with patients to develop management plans that consider their individual needs.

Han obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree from the University of Melbourne and completed his Cardiology training at the Austin Hospital, before undertaking training in the area of cardiac electrophysiology and device implantations. Han’s PhD thesis was onin stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF).

His overseas advanced cardiac electrophysiology fellowship, saw him train train with Professor Michel Haissaguerre in Bordeaux, France, a pioneer in the technique of catheter ablation for AF.
Han has extensive experience in catheter ablation for complex arrhythmias, including the latest ablation techniques for AF, supraventricular tachycardia and ventricular tachycardia, as well as pacemaker and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantations.

Han is a recipient of the NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) Medical Postgraduate Scholarship for his PhD, and the Parmley Prize from the American College of Cardiology in 2012. He was also a Finalist in the American Heart Association Samuel Levine Young Investigator Award in 2014 and a recipient of the NHMRC Neil Hamilton Fairley Early Career Fellowship. Han has a strong track record of peer-reviewed journal publications in major international cardiology journals in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Cardiology .His research areas focus on catheter ablation for AF, stroke prevention in AF and sudden cardiac death.

Qualifications
• MBBS (University of Melbourne)
• PhD
• FRACP
• FESC
• Postgraduate Advanced Electrophysiology Fellowship: Bordeaux, France

Dr Nilesh Mehta is a senior cardiologist and Director of Northside cardiology. He has been working at Northern Hospital for last 13 years as a cardiologist with a focus in interventional cardiology.

Nilesh completed his basic medical and cardiology training at Mumbai University, India. He completed Interventional Cardiology fellowship from St Vincent’s Health and was awarded FRACP from Melbourne University in 2007.  He has clinical interest in complex coronary interventions- chronic total occlusion and Rotablator angioplasty for heavily calcified blockages. He also has keen interest in preventive cardiology, and echocardiography.

Nilesh is actively involved in teaching and mentoring cardiology registrars and advanced trainees.

Nilesh enjoys running, surfing and competing in triathlons.

Dr Larry Ponnuthurai is the Deputy Director of Cardiology at Northern Hospital and leads the Interventional Unit and Coronary Care Unit.

He completed his specialist cardiology training at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, followed by fellowships in echocardiography at Monash Medical Centre and The Austin Hospital, and interventional cardiology at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

His clinical expertise includes interventional cardiology (angioplasty and stenting for coronary artery disease), cardiac imaging (transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography), heart failure management, and cardiac risk assessment (stress tests and CT coronary angiography).

Dr Ponnuthurai practices in both public and private sectors, consulting at Northern Private Hospital. He performs coronary angiography and stenting using femoral and radial artery access, incorporating advanced imaging techniques such as IVUS, OCT, and FFR.

He is involved in the education of cardiology trainees and medical students and has participated in developing outpatient care guidelines for the Department of Health & Human Services.

Dr Ponnuthurai performs cardiological procedures using established clinical protocols and techniques. He provides consultations that include taking patient history and addressing symptoms and concerns as part of the clinical assessment.

Qualifications
•Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB Royal College of Surgeons 1993)
•Diploma of Diagnostic Ultrasound (DDU 2005)
•Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP 2002)
•Fellow of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (FCSANZ 2014)

Dr Rifly Rafiudeen is a Cardiologist with interest in all areas of cardiology, in particular coronary artery disease, chest pain, cardiovascular risk assessment and management, lipid management, valvular heart disease, arrhythmia, and cardiomyopathy.

He has extensive experience in performing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) i.e. ‘stenting’. This includes the use of intra-coronary imaging modalities such as optical coherence tomography (OCT) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), as well as calcium modification with rotational atherectomy (Rotablator), and recently developed modalities such as ‘shockwave’ intravascular lithotripsy (IVL).

He also performs coronary angiography, right heart studies, fractional flow reserve (FFR), and index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR). He performs most procedures via radial (wrist) access.

After receiving the state Chief Minister’s Award for Most Outstanding Student and Australian Government Australian Students Prize for Excellence through schooling, Dr Rafiudeen obtained his medical degree (MBBS Hons) in 2010 from the University of Melbourne, with multiple Dean’s Honours List awards. He completed his Advanced Cardiology training at the Royal Hobart Hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital, and Western/Sunshine Hospitals in Melbourne.

He was awarded prestigious Research Scholarships by the University of Melbourne and Northern Health Foundation, and completed his PhD at Northern Hospital, looking at different mechanisms of heart attacks and ways to prevent them. He continues to hold public appointments as an Interventional Cardiologist and in the Chest Pain Evaluation Unit at Northern Hospital.

Dr Rafiudeen has published widely in peer reviewed medical journals, both nationally and internationally. He is actively involved with ongoing research both locally and as part of multiple international multi-centre collaborative research trials. He is heavily involved in teaching medical students from the University of Melbourne as a Clinical Lecturer.

Qualifications:

• Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP)
• Member of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ)
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - UniMelb
• Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS Hons, UniMelb)
• Bachelor of Medical Science (BMedSc, UniMelb)

Dr John Ramzy is a general cardiologist with a clinical interest in interventional cardiology including coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease and adult congenital heart disease. After graduating from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Medical Science, John trained in five of Melbourne’s leading cardiology units including St. Vincent’s Hospital, The University Hospital Geelong, Box Hill Hospital, The Alfred Hospital and Royal Melbourne Hospital. Through this broad experience he has a wide skill set including management of valvular heart disease, advanced heart failure, arrhythmias and complex coronary artery disease.

He then completed a two year interventional cardiology fellowship at Monash Heart, Melbourne’s largest provider of cardiac services, where he focused on percutaneous coronary and structural heart disease intervention. John then undertook a fellowship in Structural/Adult Congenital Heart Disease Intervention at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre in Toronto, Canada.

John's clinical focus is in percutaneous interventions for valvular heart disease, congenital cardiac defects and heart failure. This includes expertise in procedures such as: TAVI, Mitra-Clip, Tri-Clip, mitral valve-in-valve and valve-in-ring replacement, left atrial appendage occlusion, PFO, ASD, PDA and VSD device closure, coarctation stenting, pulmonary valve replacement, paravalvular leak device closure, percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty, pulmonary vein balloon dilation and stenting, cardiomems implants, atrial flow regulator device implantation and coiling/device occlusion of arteriovenous malformations, fistulas and collaterals. He is also trained in the invasive haemodynamic assessment and percutaneous interventions for patients with complex congenital heart disease.

John has expertise in the treatment of coronary artery disease including the provision of high quality, safe diagnostic angiography and percutaneous intervention using radial access and the full range of tools to provide the finest results for his patients. This includes expertise in the use of technologies such as fractional flow reserve (FFR), Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) and a range of tools to treat calcified lesions. John enjoys forming terrific therapeutic relationships with his patients and spending time ensuring that patient’s and families feel empowered in their care.

Research interests

• Research into percutaneous alternatives for treatment of cardiac defects usually treated with surgery.

Dr Sharma completed his cardiology training at the Northern Hospital. He then under took a one year fellowship in intervention cardiology followed by a second fellowship in cardiac imaging at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne.
Dr Sharma has extensive experience in cardiology including general cardiology, valvular heart disease and all aspects of echocardiography (trans thoracic, transoesophageal, 3D/4 D, contrast and stress echocardiography). He has an interest in heart failure.
Dr Sharma currently holds a public appointment at the Northern Hospital consulting in heart failure and imaging (echo).
His academic interest includes the supervision and training of advanced trainees in cardiology.
Dr Sharma has also participated in research at the Northern Hospital and is a co-investigator in multinational trials.

Qualifications
• Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of surgery (MBBS)
• Fellow of the Cardiac society of Australia and New Zealand (FCSANZ)
• Fellow of the Royal college of Physicians (FRACP)

Professor William van Gaal is the Director of Cardiology at Northern Health. He is also the Executive Divisional Director of Emergency Services at Northern Health which incorporates the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit and Cardiology Department.

He is a dual trained Interventional Cardiologist and Nuclear Physician. His main interest is treating chest pain and coronary artery disease (blockages of the heart arteries). He has recently served as the President of the Victorian Division of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Professor van Gaal graduated from the University of Melbourne (MBBS) in 1995. After achieving fellowship (FRACP) in nuclear medicine and cardiology, he moved to the United Kingdom in 2004 where he undertook a 4 year Fellowship in Interventional Cardiology (stenting blocked arteries) at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

During his time in Oxford he performed over 1000 interventional procedures including advanced techniques in complex coronary disease. He undertook his own randomised controlled trial examining the use of stents to replace the need for cardiac bypass surgery. During his time in Oxford Professor van Gaal completed a three year Masters in Evidence Based Medicine at the University of Oxford (MSc).

In late 2007 he returned to Australia to commence the Cardiology unit at Northern Health, where he commenced the interventional cardiology program - which now supports the northern community with 24/7 access to emergency cardiology procedures. Shortly after returning to Australia he completed his 3 year Doctor of Medicine (MD) at the University of Melbourne examining the mechanisms and prevention of heart injury during heart procedures. He subsequently gained Fellowship to the Australian Cardiac Society (FCSANZ) and subsequently the European Society of Cardiology for his efforts in research and leadership in the cardiology community (FESC).

Professor Van Gaal is very widely published in the international literature with over 100 manuscripts in peer reviewed journals on the topics of heart disease, interventional procedures and techniques, and the mechanisms and prevention of heart injury during heart surgery and heart procedures. He has been principal investigator on over 30 international trials including first-inhuman trials, and recruited the first patient worldwide into a trial of a novel liquid device to prevent heart failure following heart attacks which achieved international acclaim.

His research interests include minimally invasive heart procedures that can replace the need for cardiac bypass surgery, cholesterol lowering agents including intravenous therapy to raise HDL (good cholesterol) and lower LDL (bad cholesterol), novel blood thinners for patients with heart disease, as well as new treatments for people with diabetes and heart disease. Professor van Gaal was the Australian lead cardiologist for a study in patients with stents who need blood thinners and has presented these findings at a national and interventional level. He leads the quality unit for Emergency Services at Northern Health and has a keen interest in researching new models of care to minimise the risk of harm to patients admitted to hospital with heart disease.

Professor van Gaal has served on the Victorian Cardiac Clinical Network Leadership committee. He was secretary of the Victorian Cardiac Society for three years before serving as the President of the Victorian Cardiac Society between 2016 until 2018. He currently serves on the steering committee, clinical quality committee and publishing committee of the Victorian Cardiac Outcomes Registry. He chairs the New Technology committee and Northern Health, as well as the Quality committee and ethics committee.

Above all, Bill is known for the care and pride he takes in explaining to patients in simple terms the exact nature and cause of their condition, helping them understand the treatment options available, and offering new or innovative therapies that are available to treat their condition.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
• Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP)
• Masters of Evidence Based Medicine (MSc) 2009
• Doctor of Medicine (MD) 2010
• Fellow of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (FCSANZ)
• Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC)
• Cardiovascular research
• Nuclear Medicine and coronary perfusion (blood supply to the heart muscle)

Dr Zakariyya completed his early medical training in the UK and received membership with the Royal College of Physicians in 2007. He then moved to Australia and completed his physician training in Queensland and Cardiology training in Melbourne. Following this, Dr Zakariyya underwent advanced interventional and structural heart disease training including TAVI at Waikato Hospital in New Zealand. Dr Zakariyya is trained in transthoracic echo, contrast echo, stress echo and cardiac CT.

Dr Zakariyya has performed extensive humanitarian work as an interventional cardiologist.

His earlier appointments include working with NHS at Gloucestershire Hospital, UK, as a consultant interventional cardiologist providing coronary intervention and cardiac CT services.

Dr Zakariyya is well published and has presented research findings at various national and international conferences.