New ACvA President

Institute’s Executive Director Appointed ACvA’s Next President

29 May 2023

Professor Jason Kovacic has been nominated as the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance’s (ACvA) next President.

He will take up the role officially at the end of 2023 and will be known as the President-Elect till then.

It’s a fantastic and well-deserved achievement for Professor Kovacic, Executive Director of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.

President-elect Professor Kovacic said he is honoured to lead the organisation as President from the end of 2023.

“I look forward to working the ACvA Board as President-elect and President, as well as working closely with government, health, and industry partners to directly address unmet needs in cardiovascular and stroke health,” said Professor Kovacic.

ACvA’s current President Professor Gemma Figtree will step down at the end of this year in line with the organisation’s maximum term of six years for this role.

Professor Kovacic, the Board and other senior leaders of the ACvA, acknowledged Professor Figtree’s significant contribution.

Professor Kovacic said: “Gemma has driven a positive culture and pathway for the next generation of researchers and supported the sector to be more impactful, relevant and sustainable. When Gemma stepped in as the President of ACvA almost 6 years ago, it was a recently established entity that was quite small in scale. She has overseen enormous growth in the ACvA, to now be an internationally recognised body that hasreshaped the face of cardiovascular research across Australia.”

President-elect Professor Kovacic is a cardiologist, physician-scientist and heart disease advocate. He has been an ACvA Board Director since 2020. He is also a cardiologist at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Professor of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and a Board Member of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes.

Professor Figtree congratulated the President-elect saying: “Jason will be outstanding as our next President. He is a natural leader and brings with him the experience and network of his varied appointments which will support the national and international connectivity of the ACvA. He will also benefit, as I did, from the outstanding leadership and dedication of the ACvA Flagships, Clinical Themes, Committees and membership who want cardiovascular and stroke research to have maximum impact.”

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For all media enquiries and interview requests, please contact:

Julia Timms
Head, Media & Communications
j.timms@victorchang.edu.au
0457 517 355