Meet our presenters

Professor Zsolt Balogh: Internationally recognised academic and active practicing trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, with special clinical and research interest in polytrauma, traumatic shock resuscitation, multiple organ failure, pelvic and acetabulum fractures.

Professor Zsolt Balogh combines his academic leadership and experience to help save lives with the aim to maintain quality.

Zsolt is the Discipline Head of Traumatology and Surgery at the School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, the Director of Trauma at John Hunter Hospital and Hunter New England Local Health District. He also leads the Injury and Trauma Research Program at HMRI.

The HMRI Award for Research Excellence 2023 recipients says, ‘My special focus is to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of how kinetic energy causes systemic inflammation and auto-destruction in living organisms and apply specific preventive and counteracting interventions.’

Professor Doan Ngo: Highly acclaimed academic pharmacist and a successful basic and translational scientist with multiple important contributions in the cardio-oncology and cardio-metabolic field.

Professor Doan Ngo is the Deputy Chair of the HMRI Heart and Stroke Research Program. She is committed to improving the outcomes for patients with heart failure through better understanding of mechanisms involved and discovering new biomarkers and therapies.

Doan has also been a key driver in establishing Australia’s first clinical cardio-oncology service that has served over 1500 patients in the last four years, leading to invaluable improvements in patient outcomes and quality of life.

In 2023, she was also awarded the ACvA 2022 Game Changer Award that recognized the innovative discovery that the anti-cancer drug, Bizantrene, has simultaneous anti-cancer and cardioprotective properties. She’s validated this discovery in cells and models and will undertake a clinical trial in collaboration with an industry partner, RACE oncology.