Thank you to Janice, John and everyone at Glengara Retirement Village for your generosity over the weekend.

We were kindly invited along to watch the Waratah Girls Choir perform on Saturday afternoon (and they were breathtakingly good!).  Retire Australia, Glengara Village and some of the individual residents then made some kind donations to the Heart Centre for Children as the charity of choice, which will be put towards new equipment to help us to diagnose and treat more children.

It was wonderful to meet some of the residents, hear their stories and feel what a wonderful community they have at Glengara.  Thank you again to all of you.  It was a wonderful afternoon and we hope to see you again soon!

There are only a couple of tables left at the Zipper Tickers gala dinner in Newcastle on Saturday 27 July 2013.  Please go to www.zippertickers.com to purchase tickets, sponsor the event or get in touch with the organisers.  With Dr John Hewson AM speaking, live entertainment throughout the evening and charity auctions, it promises to be a memorable evening.  All proceeds will come to the Heart Centre for Children, to help in our quest to purchase a new cardiac ultrasound (echo) machine.  We hope to see you there!

The lovely Carol Caleo, whose father supported the Heart Centre for Children even before it was known as such, and her team are putting on an Echo Gala Dinner at the Sofitel in Sydney on Friday the 13th of September.  It promises to be quite an extravaganza, a good excuse to put on a black tie or ballgown, and help us to purchase a much-needed cardiac ultrasound (echo) machine.

See www.echogaladinner.com for more details and to become a sponsor.  Tickets will be on sale soon.

Occasionally babies are born with atrial flutter, a type of abnormal heart rhythm. Previously, the treatment for this was an electrical shock which is painful and requires a general anaesthetic. With the support of a generous donor, we purchased a High Output Stimulator in December 2012, which allows us to fix the heart rhythm without the shock or general anaesthetic.  It also allows us to manage rhythm after heart surgery, making a big difference when the usual pacemaker is unable to deliver the required energy.  Thank you to the company that kindly donated $3,500 for this machine.  It is already making a big difference to babies and children at the Heart Centre whose hearts need a little help to pick up a normal beat.

A/Prof David Winlaw and I recently participated in a study which has been published in the highly acclaimed journal, Nature Genetics. The study identified a region on chromosome 4p16 that is associated with a risk of developing ostium secundum atrial septal defects (ASD). Variations in this region are estimated to account for 9% of the population-attributable risk of ASD.

Click here to read more about the study.
http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ng.2637.html