Our Doctors

Dr Chiew Wong is a General Cardiologist subspecialist in cardiac imaging (Level 2 Echo specialist, Level B accredited Cardiac CT specialist) and heart failure. He specialises in valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease and Cardiovascular Risk Assessment & Management

“My goal is to promote cardiovascular health of the community and people of the nation by integrating and translating cardiovascular research into bedside clinical practice”.

He graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1994. After completed his cardiology training, he pursued subspecialty fellowship in Cardiovascular Imaging/ Echocardiography and obtained a PhD in Cardiology at the renowned Professor Tom Marwick’s Echo Lab. He further expanded his cardiac imaging expertise by completing the cardiac CT advanced fellowship at the Cardiovascular Medical Group of Southern California and also completing the Cardiac MRI level 2 training course.

He current positions include Head of non-interventional cardiology services, Western Health and teaching roles as Clinical Associate Professor for the University of Melbourne as well as heavily involved in advance cardiology trainee and fellow training program. He is visiting cardiologist to the Epworth and Western Private Hospitals.

A/Prof. Wong is also involved in cardiovascular research in chronic disease management, cardiac care delivery and early detection and management of cardiac disease. His work has been published in the Lancet, the Circulation, the Journal of American College of Cardiology & the American Journal of Cardiology.

Services:

Consultations, Echocardiography, Stress Echocardiography, Trans-esophageal Echocardiogram and cardiac CT/MRI

Interventional Cardiologist and US Board Certified Cardiac CT Specialist

A/Prof. Kean Soon is a Cardiologist sub-specialising in interventional cardiology and cardiac CT. He graduated with the degree of MBBS from the University of Melbourne in 1997. He completed his cardiology training and became a Fellow of Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 2004. He obtained a PhD degree from the University of Melbourne in 2007 for his research in cardiac CT. He also completed two years of interventional training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital from 2007 to 2009. He is an expert in radial approach coronary angiogram, angioplasty and stenting. Dr Soon is an interventional cardiologist at the Western and Sunshine Hospitals and a visiting cardiologist to the Epworth (Richmond), Melbourne Private and Western Private Hospitals.

A/Prof. Soon is a founding member and fellow of the Society of Cardiac CT (SCCT); He is a US Board certified (CBCCT) and SCCT certified level III Cardiac CT specialist; Dr Soon has a Level B accreditation of Conjoint Committee for Cardiac CT in Australia. He currently holds the position of Co-Director of Cardiac CT Program in Western Heath.

A/Prof. Soon is a valuable teaching staff of the Western Hospital Clinical School, the University of Melbourne and is a Fellow of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Melbourne.

Services:

Management of coronary heart disease, Primary prevention of coronary heart disease, Coronary Angiogram, Angioplasty and stenting via radial artery Transthoracic Echo, Stress Echo, Stress ECG and Cardiac CT.

Interventional Cardiologist and Echo Cardiologist

Dr F A (Larry) Ponnuthurai is currently the Deputy Director of Cardiology at Northern Hospital as well as the head of the Hospital’s Cardiac Cathlab and Coronary Care Unit.

Larry Ponnuthurai completed his Specialist training in Cardiology at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. He has expertise in two cardiac subspecialties including a Fellowship in Cardiac imaging (echocardiography) at Monash Hospital and the Austin Hospital and a second Fellowship in Interventional Cardiology at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, United Kingdom.

His research includes published articles in the fields of Interventional Cardiology, echocardiography and non-coronary intervention. He can offer patients a comprehensive cardiac care which includes:

• Interventional Cardiology (coronary artery blockages treated by balloons and stents)
• Cardiac Imaging (echocardiograms and transoesophageal echocardiograms)
• Heart failure (management of cardiomyopathy and valvular heart disease)
• Cardiac Risk Assessment (ECG stress tests, Stress echo tests)

His role as Deputy Director includes the education of Cardiology trainee doctors as well as Medical students from the University of Melbourne. He regularly participates in General Practitioner education programs.

He is involved in both public and private practice where he consults at the Melbourne Heart Institute (Moonee Ponds), the Epworth Hospital (Richmond) as well as Epping Specialist Centre – Northern Heart (Epping). He performs coronary angioplasty and stenting at the Northern Hospital, Epworth Hospital and Western Private Hospital.

“I have been a Medical Doctor for over 20 years and am still very passionate about delivering a personalised and balanced cardiac management approach to each of my patients. I feel strongly that my patients’ wishes should be respected and their fears should be appreciated and allayed before their medical treatment can be considered a success. Most importantly, I believe it is an honour and a privilege to serve my community with compassion, humility, integrity and to the absolute best of my ability.”

Dr Samuel Varughese is an interventional heart failure specialist who has a special interest in cardiomyopathy and heart rhythm disorders.

After his basic and advanced training in Medicine from India he had extensive training in all aspects of cardiology in the United Kingdom. He had further interventional cardiology training at Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia. He left the staff cardiologist position in the United Kingdom to become the Director of Cardiology at the National Hospital of Brunei and subsequently became the Director of Cardiology at the Mount Gambier Hospital, South Australia. Dr Varughese is currently a staff specialist at the Western Hospital and a visiting cardiologist to the Epworth and Western Private Hospitals.

Dr Varughese is an accomplished cardiologist who specialises in the diagnosis and management of a spectrum of cardiac diseases including coronary artery disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, heart rhythm disorders, valvular heart disease and cardiovascular risk assessment and management besides his expertise in cardiac imaging. He was the Chairman of the National Consensus Committee on Hypertension Guidelines that published the Brunei National Guidelines for management of hypertension in 2002. He was also involved with the ACACIA study, recruiting patients from a regional centre, which looked at the management of acute coronary syndrome across Australia. He is actively involved in the basic and advanced physician training programme of the Western Hospital Clinical School, the University of Melbourne.

Services:

Consultations, Stress ECG, Trans-thoracic Echocardiography, Trans-esophageal Echocardiography, Stress Echocardiography and CT.

Mr Simon Moten graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1991 and achieved his Cardiothoracic FRACS in 2004. He then spent two years working and studying overseas and completed a fellowship in Minimally Invasive and Robotic Cardiac Surgery at East Carolina University, North Carolina, under the guidance of Dr Randolph Chitwood III, one of North America’s eminent mitral valve surgeons. On returning to Australia in 2006 he took up a Consultant Surgeon position at Austin Health where he has developed his interest in mitral valve surgery and established a minimally invasive mitral valve programme. Since 2008 has also held the position of Consultant Surgeon at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. His interests include minimally invasive “keyhole” aortic and mitral valve surgery. He is a leading international expert and proctor on the insertion of sutureless aortic valves and continues to be a leading advocate of robotic and minimally invasive mitral valve surgery.

"My focus remains the advanced delivery of quality expert care whilst respecting the concerns and individual needs of those that matter most – the patient clients.”

Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiologist and Cardiologist

Dr Obeyesekere completed his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Monash University in 2000 and then trained in Cardiology at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne and was awarded the FRACP Cardiology in 2008.

In 2009, Dr Obeyesekere undertook post-graduate training in electrophysiology and pacing at Monash Medical Centre Clayton.

In 2010-2011, Dr Obeyesekere undertook advanced electrophysiology and pacing training at the University Hospital, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.

Dr Obeyesekere also took a prominent role in research and his original research has been published in internationally regarded journals including Circulation, Circulation Arrhythmia, Heart Rhythm, etc. Dr Obeyesekere has also authored numerous book chapters.

Services:

• Implantation of pacemakers and defibrillators
• Curative ablation of atrial fibrillation and flutter
• Curative ablation of supra-ventricular Tachycardia
• Management of Ventricular Tachycardia

Dr Iefan Lim is a General and Interventional Cardiologist. He graduated from the University of Tasmania with Honors in 2002 and his post-graduate training was undertaken at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne. In 2012 he completed a Fellowship in Coronary and Structural Intervention in Vancouver, Canada after being the inaugural Epworth-Bakken Interventional Cardiology Fellow. He has a special interest in radial coronary angiography and intravascular coronary lesion assessment utilising FFR, IVUS and OCT as well as the management of valvular disease using minimally invasive techniques.

Dr Natalie Marijanovic is a Specialist Endocrinologist. She completed medical degree at The University of Melbourne in 2005 and trained at The Royal Melbourne Hospital (Melbourne Health) and at Western Health before undertaking her Endocrinology and Diabetes specialist training at Flinders Hospital in Adelaide, Monash Medical Centre and University Hospital Geelong. She has specific training in the management of nutritional problems including overweight and obesity and also has an interest and has done research in bone disease (Osteoporosis) and diabetes.

Natalie has expertise in and can help you manage the following problems:

• Diabetes including Type 1 diabetes (including insulin pumps), Type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, gestational diabetes, diabetes due to pancreatic damage/removal, pre-conception management of diabetes and preventing diabetes in high risk people.
• Bone and calcium problems including low or high serum calcium concentration, Osteoporosis, Osteopaenia, Paget’s disease of the bone and parathyroid gland problems.
• Thyroid problems including over and underactive thyroid, thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer.
• Nutrition including underweight and overweight/obesity.
• Pituitary gland problems including prolactinoma, Cushing’s disease, pituitary cysts and tumours, hypopituitarism).
• Adrenal gland problems including Cushing’s syndrome, Addison’s disease/hypoadrenalism, overactive or underactive adrenal glands, adrenal gland masses
• Reproductive Endocrine problems including menopausal symptoms, delayed puberty, hypogonadism, elevated testosterone or excess hair in women, polycystic ovarian syndrome and infertility.
• Difficult to control hypertension and metabolic problems including high lipids/cholesterol.