Celermajer, David Stephen (1961 - )

Summary

David Celermajer is a renowned cardiologist whose research interests focus on congenital heart disease (CHD), particularly the impact of CHD on other systems in the bod,. and 'whole-of-life' care for patients with CHD. He joined the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney in 1996 and has held senior positions including Director of Echocardiology and Director, Adult Congenital Heart Disease Services. For the Hospital he led the development of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) Database. He developed new techniques for the non-invasive investigation and detection of silent atherosclerotic disease and small vessel damage: these techniques are now widely used by other researchers. Other research demonstrated the harmful effects of passive smoking on young adults. In 2000 Celermajer became Scandrett Professor of Cardiology at the University of Sydney. He is a fellow of leading Australian learned societies, including the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the Cardiac Society of Australian and New Zealand. Organisations in which he held executive roles include the National Heart Foundation and HeartKids Australia.

Details

"David Celermajer's seminal contribution to science has been the invention of a technique to allow the study of the arterial endothelium in humans, and subsequently the first ever demonstration that arterial damage can occur in children and young adults at risk of vascular disease, e.g. in association with passive smoking and obesity, many years before the disease causes complications such as heart attack or stroke. This identification of pre-symptomatic arterial damage has revolutionised the field of cardiovascular prevention and has led to novel treatment options (such as oral L-arginine and inhaled nitric oxide) for patients with early arterial damage." [from https://www.science.org.au/profile/david-celermajer 27/5/2025]

Chronology

1976

Life event - Migrated to Australia with his family

1983

Award - Rhodes Scholarship for New South Wales

1983

Education - MS BS (hons), University of Sydney

1989 -

Education - Fellow, Royal Australasian College of Physicians

1993

Education - PhD, University of London

1994 - ?

Career position - Staff Cardiologist, Children's Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales

1996 -

Career position - Cardiologist and Director, Adult Congenital Heart Disease Services, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

1998

Award - R. T. Hall Prize, Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand

1998

Award - Eric Susman Prize, Royal Australasian College of Physicians

2000 -

Career position - Scandrett Professor of Cardiology, University of Sydney

2000 -

Career position - Co-Director of Pulmonary Hypertension Services, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

2000 - 2004

Career position - Director of Research, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

2000 - 2006

Career position - Member, Research Grants Committee, National Heart Foundation

2002

Award - Commonwealth Medal for Excellence in Health and Medical Research

2002 - 2008

Career position - Member, Scientific Committee, Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand

2003 -

Career position - Clinical Director, Heart Research Institute, Sydney

2006 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science

2006 - 2011

Career position - Chairman, Research Grants Committee, National Heart Foundation

2006 - 2020

Career position - Head of the Discipline of Cardiology, University of Sydney

2007 -

Award - Fellow, Cardiac Society of Australian and New Zealand

2007 - 2016

Career position - Chairman, Research Committee, National Heart Foundation Research

2008 - 2021

Career position - Director of Echocardiology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

2010 - 2018

Career position - Board Member, Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin

2010 - 2021

Career position - Board member, Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Trust

2014

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) or distinguished service to medicine in the field of cardiology, as a clinician and researcher, to improved medical diagnostic methods, and to the promotion of heart health, particularly I n children and young adults

2016 -

Career position - Foundation Board Member, HeartKids Australia

2018 -

Career position - Chairman, Steering Committee, Congenital Heart Alliance of Australia and New Zealand

2018 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences

2019

Award - Ruthven Blackburn Medal for Distinguished Contribution to Clinical Research (jointly with Tania Sorrell), University of Sydney School of Medicine

2020 -

Career position - Board Member, Head Foundation, Singapore

Related entries

Published resources

See also

• Robson, Alexandra K.; Production Manager and Editor eds, Who's who in Australia 2019 (Southbank, Vic.: AAP Directories, 2018), 1788 pp. Details