IB Woman
Issue No. 32 - December/January
Getting to the heart of the matter
by Penelope Herbert
Danielle Grant-Cross has a simple way of explaining her work as EO of the Cardiovascular Research Centre and why two leading heart specialists employed her to raise the awareness of heart disease.
“Professor Stephen Worthley (pictured right) is the plumber and Professor Prash Sanders (pictured centre) is the electrician,” she says. “Stephen works in the area of intervention and imaging and Prash is a specialist in electrophysiology (heart rhythm). My role is to ensure we have the exposure and capital to operate effectively as a not-for-profit group.”
As a former Australian squad netball player, captain of the Adelaide Ravens, former PR firm owner, and current member of the Premier’s Council for Women, Danielle is familiar with sport and public relations. She is passionate about highlighting the disease that kills more people in Australia than all the cancers put together. One in two male deaths and one in three female deaths each year are due to cardiovascular disease.
“Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in western society today,” warns Danielle, “and it’s completely erroneous to think that only older males, overweight, sedentary, and stressed people are victims. Forty per cent of all deaths are due to complications of heart attacks or strokes and our lifestyle and genetic predisposition are key factors. The disturbing fact is that our choice of lifestyle is literally killing us.”
Professors Worthley and Sanders, world leaders in their fields, both do clinical work as well as research. They formed the Cardiovascular Research Centre to be an internationally recognised nucleus of excellence in cardiovascular medicine. Their immediate goal is to advance the understanding of cardiovascular medicine and management for patients, but their ultimate aim is to take research results to the patients’ bedsides and make a difference in people’s lives today.
“Prash worked in France with the fou...
