SPEAKERS

Our speakers cover the following Congress themes.

Patient management

Koichi Toda (Japan), KR Balakrishnan (India), Xiaocheng Liu (China), Lim Soo Kun (Malaysia), Sivakumar Krishnasamy (Malaysia), Shahrul Amry Hashim (Malaysia), Tomohiro Nishinaka (Japan), Akira Shiose (Japan)

Design, development, evaluation and clinical translation of assist devices

Toru Masuzawa (Japan), Sivathasan Cumaraswamy (Singapore), Polin Hsu (China), Geoff Tansley (Australia), Tuan Hairulnizam Tuan Kamauzaman (Malaysia)

Digital health and numerical simulation

Stephen Payne (Taiwan), Suhaini Kadiman (Malaysia), Andrew Stephens (Australia), Surapong Chatpun (Thailand)

Biomaterials and tissue engineering

Bikramjit Basu (India), Akio Kishida (Japan), Syafiqah Saidin (Malaysia), Nadiah Sulaiman (Malaysia), Yeoh Fei Yee (Malaysia)



The FULL LIST of our SPEAKERS¡¯ TOPICS can be obtained >>HERE<<




Koichi Toda
Prof Koichi Toda, MD., PhD joined research program regarding artificial heart in National Cardiovascular Center (NCVC) in 1993 and received Ph.D. Degree certified by OUGM in 1996. He then worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Columbia University and passed USMLE (1996-1998). Upon completion, he completed Thoracic Cardiovascular residency in Ochsner Clinic, New Orleans (1998-2000) and clinical fellowship in Cardiovascular Surgery in Brown University, Rhode Island (2000-2001). After returning to Japan, he worked as an attending cardiovascular surgeon in OUGM affiliated hospitals and NCVC (2001-2012) and promoted to Associate Professor and Clinical Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery at OUGM (2012 - Present). His surgical specialty includes mechanical circulatory support, heart transplant, heart and lung transplant, minimally invasive surgery, and regenerative therapy and he has more than 250 publications related to cardiovascular surgery. He also works as Board member of International Federation for Artificial Organs (IFAO) (2016-2021), ISMCS (International Society for Mechanical Circulatory Support) (2019-Present), Japanese Society of Artificial Organs (JSAO) (2013 - 2019), and Editorial Board member of Surgery Today and Artificial Organs. He has also hosted the 57th Annual Meeting of the JSAO in 2019.


Toru Masuzawa
Prof Toru Masuzawa received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Tokyo Denki University, in 1982, 1984 and 1991, respectively. In 1987, he was a Research Assistant with the Department of Precision Mechanical Engineering, University of Tokyo. From 1990 to 1997, he was a Research Associate with the Department of Artificial Organs, National Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Osaka, Japan. He is currently a Professor of the domain of mechanical systems engineering. He is also the Dean of the College of Engineering and Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ibaraki University, Hitachi, Japan. His current research focuses on medical mechatronics such as magnetically suspended blood pumps and artificial hearts. Prof Masuzawa is the President of the International Federation for Artificial Organs and the board member of the International Society for Mechanical Circulatory Support, and the Japanese Society for Artificial Organs.


Xiaocheng Liu
Prof Xiaocheng Liu is currently the President of TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital, China, and a visiting professor of Tokyo Medical and Dental University. He took his cardiovascular surgery fellowship in Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. Thereafter, Prof Liu founded Mudanjiang Cardiovascular Hospital in Heilongjiang Province, China, where he performed the first heart-lung transplant in China. Since 2009, he has led the TICH team to work with the engineers of China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology to develop the implantable left ventricular assist device (HeartCon also known as ¡°Rocket Heart¡±), China's first model based on third-generation LVAD technology. He was the principal investigator who led more than 10 hospitals in China to successfully complete a clinical trial of 50 cases of Rocket Heart. The device was approved by the National Medical Products Administration (Chinese FDA) for marketing in July 2022. As a cardiovascular surgeon, Prof Liu has performed more than 10,000 heart surgeries and still does more than 300 emergency and critical surgeries every year.


Tomohiro Nishinaka
Prof Tomohiro Nishinaka is the Director of the Department of Artificial Organs, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, which focuses on the practical application of medical devices such as ECMO systems and ventricular assist devices for the treatment of severe heart failure and respiratory failure. He is also the current Secretary-General of APSAO.




Sivathasan Cumaraswamy
Dr Sivathasan Cumaraswamy is presently the Consultant of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at the Heart, Lung & Vascular Centre of Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, Singapore. Dr Sivathasan also holds several portfolios at the National Heart Centre, Singapore, namely, Program Director of Mechanical Heart Devices and Co-Director of Heart/Lung Transplantation programmes. He is instrumental in establishing several major programmes in Singapore, including the Mechanical Heart Assist and the heart-lung transplant programme at the National Heart Centre. He has also assisted many centres in Asia and Asia Pacific in initiating their Left Ventricular Assist Device programmes. He was also a past President of the International Society for Mechanical Circulatory Support.


Geoff Tansley
Geoff Tansley is Professor Emeritus at the School of Engineering and Built Environment, Griffith University, Australia. Geoff¡¯s specialties include fluid mechanics, computational fluid dynamics and device design, in particular ventricular assist devices, blood pumps and blood bearings. Geoff has broad experience and has consulted widely in the medical devices and manufacturing industries.


K R Balakrishnan
Dr. K R Balakrishnan is the Director of the Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support, MGM Healthcare, Chennai, India. He is one of India¡¯s leading cardiothoracic surgeons and heart-lung transplant specialists, with over 30 years of experience, and having a record of completing over 503 heart transplants. Dr Balakrishnan is credited with India¡¯s First LVAD and HVAD pump implant as destination therapy. He is instrumental in starting India¡¯s First Comprehensive Centre for Heart Failure Management at Fortis Malar Hospital, Chennai. He is also actively engaged with various institutions to develop Pulsatile and continuous flow LVADs (Left Ventricular Assist Device) and molecular biology of ventricular hypertrophy. He is currently working on the engineering and development of a low-cost mechanical cardiac support device.


Polin Hsu
Dr. Polin Hsu has over 10 years of experience in ventricular assist device design and testing. She obtained her doctoral degree in Electronic Engineering from Cambridge University (2005-2010) and had her second doctoral degree in Medical Engineering from RWTH-Aachen University (2011-2013) while doing her post-doc. (2010-2013) In late 2013, Dr. Hsu started her academic career at Soochow University as a full professor. In 2019, she became the first Chinese board member of the International Society for Mechanical Circulatory Support (ISMCS) in 30 years of history since its founding of ISMCS. Seeing patients in China with acute heart failure regrettably pass away, Dr. Po-Lin Hsu founded magAssist in 2017 to develop effective life support. magAssist is now one of the leading medical device innovators in China. Under her leadership, magAssist has completed the development of the first product MoyoAssist Extracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device within 3 years, which entered multi-center clinical trial stage in December 2020. magAssist has established pipeline such as the percutaneous ventricular assist device (pVAD) and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to build a life support platform. Starting from 2023, magAssist aim to release at least one cutting-edge product to meet the clinical need every year.


Stephen Payne
Professor Stephen Payne is a Professor at the Institute of Applied Mechanics, National Taiwan University. He was University Lecturer (2006-14), Associate Professor (2015-18) and Professor (2018-21) at the University of Oxford (where he is currently a Visiting Professor). He is currently also Chair of the Cerebrovascular Research Network (CARNet) and the Editor-in-Chief of Medical Engineering and Physics. He has published >100 journal papers and 3 books and supervised 24 PhD students to successful completion. His research interests lie in computational modelling of cerebral blood flow and metabolism.


Jaesoon Choi
Dr. Jaesoon Choi received B.S. degree in control and instrumentation engineering and M.S. and Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering from Seoul National University in 1995, 1997, 2003. He had research training at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland Clinic, U.S.A., from 1999 to 2000. Between 2003 and 2006, he worked as a Staff Researcher at Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Korea. From 2007 to 2012, he was with College of Medicine, Korea University as Research Professor. He is currently Full Professor at Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. He has published 55 peer-reviewed papers in international journals and holds more than 90 patents in surgery / intervention assist robot, medical simulation / visualization, bioprinting technologies and mechatronics applications in biomedicine.


Andrew Stephens
Dr Andrew Stephens is a Research Fellow at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Australia. He is currently investigating the improvement of mechanical cardio-respiratory and smart emergency medical devices through sensing, monitoring, control, and AI. He is the deputy director of CREATElab (Cardio-Respiratory Engineering And TEchnology laboratory) situated at the Victorian Heart Hospital. He is also a council member for the Asia Pacific Society of Artificial Organs.


Akio Kishida
Professor Akio Kishida is currently a Professor in the Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan. He obtained his PhD from the Department of Polymer Chemistry, Division of Engineering, Kyoto University in 1988. Prof Kishida¡¯s research focuses on tissue engineering, functional materials, polymers and interface science.




Bikramjit Basu
Dr. Bikramjit Basu is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. He has been pursuing research at the confluence of Materials Science, Biological Science and Medicine. His research group has effectively applied the principles and tools of these disciplines to develop next generation implants and bioengineering solutions to address unmet clinical needs for musculoskeletal, dental, and neurosurgical applications; thereby impacting human healthcare. A Chartered Engineer of the UK, he is an elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (2021), International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (2020), Indian Academy of Sciences (2020), American Ceramic Society (2019), International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (2017), National Academy of Medical Sciences (2017), Indian National Academy of Engineering (2015), Society for Biomaterials & Artificial Organs (2014) and National Academy of Sciences, India (2013). He is a recipient of India¡¯s most prestigious Science and Technology award, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (2013) from the Prime Minister of India; and the globally competent awards, like Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation (2022), and International Richard Brook Award from the European Ceramic Society (2022). He is the current President (2021-24) of the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs, India, which has more than 900 members across India, Europe and USA; and is the current Chair of the Bioceramics Divison of the American Ceramic Society.


Lim Soo Kun
Lim Soo Kun is a Professor of Medicine & Consultant Nephrologist and Head of Renal Division at the University Malaya Medical Center. Professor Lim began his professional career after graduating in 1999. He became board-certified nephrologist in 2008 and has been a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh) and American Society of Nephrology. Professor Lim¡¯s main interests are in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and pre-dialysis CKD education, and kidney transplantation. He contributes actively in numerous professional commitments, including serving as secretary and council member of the Malaysian Society of Nephrology, committee member of the Malaysian Registry of Renal Biopsy, expert panel member of the National Transplant Registry and member of the National Credentialing Committee, Specialty Subcommittee for Nephrology. Professor Lim has published widely in his field of expertise and has been an invited speaker at numerous international and national congresses.


Akira Shiose
Prof Akira Shiose is a Professor at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University. His research interests include valve disease, aortic disease, cardiac failure (artificial heart, heart and lung transplantation), pulmonary artery thrombosis, adult congenital heart disease, coronary artery disease and arrhythmia. He is also the current Treasurer of APSAO.


Surapong Chatpun
Dr Surapong Chatpun is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. He received his PhD degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), United States, in 2010. He is a principal investigator of Cardiovascular Engineering Research Laboratory (CERLab). His research focuses on applying the engineering approaches such as continuum mechanics, numerical methods e.g. FEM, fluid mechanics e.g. CFD, image processing and computer aided design combined with life sciences knowledge and available technologies to bring us to understand function and mechanisms of the circulatory system in both normal and pathological conditions. He has developed tapioca-based plasma expanders using animal models. He also designs and invents medical devices not only for a cardiovascular system but also for other clinical applications such as rehabilitation.


Suhaini Kadiman
Dato¡¯ Dr. Suhaini Kadiman is the Head & Senior Consultant Anesthesiologist, Dept of Anesthesia & Intensive Care at the National Heart Institute of Malaysia. Dato¡¯ Suhaini is also currently holding a position of Director of Clinical Research at the National Heart Institute, Malaysia. Dato¡¯ is the member of various associations, notably the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, the Asian Society of Cardiothoracic Anesthesia, the American Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists and the Malaysia Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Last year, Dato¡¯ has been awarded with the Award ¡®Tokoh Perdana Maulidur Rasul 2021¡¯, given by Sultan Nazrin Shah.


Tuan Hairulnizam
Dr Tuan Harirulnizam is an Associate Professor and Senior Consultant in the Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia. His main interests are in pre-hospital care, underwater medicine and disaster medicine. He is serving as the board of director of Astra Medical Technologies Sdn Bhd, a start-up company working on medical innovations.


Sivakumar Krishnasamy
Dr Sivakumar Krishnasamy is currently an Associate Professor and a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon in University Malaya Medical Centre. He is a graduate from University Malaya and in 2006 he got his MRCS and was awarded the gold medal as best candidate in Asia. He also got the Al Hadi Gold Medal as best overall candidate for Masters in General Surgery in 2010. He went on to pursue his subspeciality in Cardiothoracic Surgery where he got his FRCS(Edin) CTh in 2016 and also was awarded the Gold medal and overall best performer in the esteemed European Board of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 2016. His clinical experience covers adult cardiac surgery, aortic surgery (open and endovascular) as well as minimally invasive and complex thoracic surgery. He was also the first recipient in the world for the Francis Fontan Fellowship by the European board in 2019. He is also the Lead author for the National Postgraduate Medical Curriculum for Cardiothoracic Surgey.


Syafiqah Saidin
Dr. Syafiqah Saidin is a senior lecturer at the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering & Health Sciences, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She is currently the Director of IJN-UTM Cardiovascular Engineering Centre. Her research interests are focused on biomaterials (membrane, implant coating, scaffold and hydrogel) with the specification on bioactive materials (hydroxyapatite, chitosan, etc), biomolecules (polydopamine, collagen, elastin, Factor VII, endothelial growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, etc) and antibacterial materials (silver, chlorhexidine, lauric acid, etc). The development and fabrication of biomaterials are intended for bone, cardiovascular and skin applications, mainly to accelerate cell proliferation, expedite wound healing and to suppress inflammation phase.


Yeoh Fei Yee
Dr Yeoh Fei Yee is an Associate Professor at the School of Materials & Mineral Resources Engineering, University Sains Malaysia, Penang. He received his PhD (Functional Materials) from the Toyohashi University of Technology, Toyohashi, Japan, in 2007. His research interests are focused on nanoporous and biomaterials, such as nanoporous silica, hydroxyapatite, zeolite & activated carbon in biomedical, environmental, and clean energy applications.


Nadiah Sulaiman
Dr Nadiah Sulaiman is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She received her PhD from University of Bristol, U.K. (2018) in Translational Health Science. Her research focuses on the potential use of decellularised human vein for coronary arterial grafting and the use of ex vivo model (bioreactor) to improve graft patency, biomaterials, cell-scaffold interaction, regulation of cell behaviours and signalling pathways, stem cells, secretomics, culture process design and cell delivery as well as bioreactor.


Shahrul Amry Hashim
Professor Shahrul serves as a distinguished Consultant and Professor in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University Malaya Medical Centre. He earned his Bachelor of Medicine degree from The University of Manchester in 1998, and obtained fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2010. Since 2011, Professor Shahrul has focused primarily on Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (MICS). This encompasses an array of procedures such as Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery, Mitral, and Aortic Valve Surgery. In addition to his clinical pursuits, Professor Shahrul's research portfolio includes the development of computer models for heart surgery, the design of simulator training programs, and advancements in cardiac surgery training methodologies. He also maintains a keen interest in quality control measures and the evaluation of outcomes in cardiac surgery, underlining his comprehensive approach to patient care and surgical advancement.