Dr Ling Gao

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Dr Ling Gao has been with the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute from late 2002 as Senior Scientist in the Cardiac Transplantation Laboratory, headed by Professor Peter Macdonald.

Dr Gao’s passion in medical research began with her Masters research degree during 1985 -1988. She investigated the treatment effects of a traditional Chinese medicine, panax pseudo-ginseng, for ischemia reperfusion injury in a rabbit model of superior mesenteric artery occlusion (SMAO). She completed a PhD degree in 2002 at the University of Sydney on the application of pharmacokinetic / pharmacodynamic studies of muscle relaxant rocuronium during liver transplantation surgery as a real-time predictor of graft liver function.

Dr Gao’s research at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute involved the use of isolated working rat heart and porcine heart transplantation models to identify pharmaceutical agents that enhance preservation of donor hearts when added to current storage solutions.

She is an expert in pharmacological studies using isolated perfused rat heart and is experienced in the management of large animal anesthesia for pre-clinical research of cardiovascular diseases. During the last 15 years, Dr Gao has made significant contributions to the identification of a number of cardioprotective agents, which have been used as supplements to the preservation solution in clinical heart transplantations at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney.