AAS Elects New Vice President

The Institute’s Professor Bob Graham elected Vice President of the Australian Academy of Science

16 December 2022

Professor Bob Graham, AO, Head of the Institute’s Molecular Cardiology Laboratory, has been elected Vice President of the Australian Academy of Science and Secretary of Biological Sciences.

Professor Graham will commence his four-year term at the Academy on May 25, 2023.

The Australian Academy of Science provides independent, authoritative and influential scientific advice, promotes international scientific engagement, builds public awareness and understanding of science, and champions, celebrates and supports excellence in Australian science.

Professor Graham said of his appointment: “I am honoured and humbled to have been elected to this role by my peers. I have great respect for the work of the Academy, an organisation of many of Australia’s leading scientists that provides important input on scientific issues ranging from climate change to the Covid pandemic, to both governments and the public.

“I am looking forward to working with my colleagues and the Academy’s secretariat to further enhance its reputation and recognition by the public as the leading agency for the many scientific issues that affect our lives and future prosperity and well-being.”

Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute’s current Executive Director, Professor Jason Kovacic, congratulated Professor Graham and praised him as a worthy recipient of such recognition.

“Professor Graham is a highly-regarded clinician and an important figure in cardiovascular research, not just in Australia but globally,” Professor Kovacic said.

“He is well deserving of this honour and will no doubt be a dedicated ambassador and champion for the biological sciences.”

Professor Graham is the Des Renford Professor of Medicine, University of NSW Sydney, and practices medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, and the John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle. His research focuses on molecular cardiology, in particular circulatory control mechanisms, hypertension, receptor signalling, and cardiac hypertrophy. More recently, his work has centred on cardiac regeneration, cardioprotection, and spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), which is responsible for approximately 25% of heart attacks in women under the age of 50 and is the commonest cause of a heart attack associated with pregnancy.

Professor Graham was the founding Executive Director of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, before leaving the role in 2020 after 26 years at the helm. He was elected to the Australian Academy of Science in 2002 and is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and a Foreign Member, Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters.

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