Dr Dick Chan BSc MPhil PhD FRCPATH

Career Summary

Dick Chan is a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Medicine, University of Western Australia. Dr Chan was awarded PhD with a distinction from University of Western Australia in 2002. In 2003 Dr Chan was awarded a Postdoctorate Research Fellowship from the Raine Medical Research Foundation and NHF. In 2007 and 2012, he was awarded a Douglas Wright Biochemical Career Development Fellowship from NHMRC (Level 1 and 2). In 2008, the International Society of Atherosclerosis awarded him a 6-month visiting fellowship for working with Professor F Karpe’s group at University of Oxford (UK). In 2010, Dr Chan was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathology (UK) on the basis of his research publications. The fellowship status by published works is only awarded to distinguished scientists who have substantial high-quality contributions to research and practice within the discipline.

Research Support and Collaboration

Since his initial appointment as an NHF postdoctoral fellow (2004), Dr Chan has held continuous project grant funding from the NHMRC (3xCIA, 1xCIB, 1xCIC, 1xCID and 1xCIF) and grants-in-aid from the National Heart Foundation (NHF) (2xCIA and 1xCIB). He has attracted more than $4.5 million for clinical and basic research from the NHMRC, NHF, local agencies and industry (Raine Medical Research Foundation, Amgen, Pfizer and Merck).

Contributions to Field

Dr Chan demonstrates a strong publication record in the area of lipoprotein metabolism and cardiovascular disease. He has published more than 130 research papers (h-index 37) and most of his publications appear in high quality referred journals including Nature Reviews Cardiology, Circulation, European Heart Journal, Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Clinical Chemistry, Current Opinion in Lipidology, Journal of Lipid Research, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Published research has led him to present at local, national and international meetings.

He has a strong research interest in the pathophysiology of lipid disorders and the role of interventions on lipoprotein metabolism and other related cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity, insulin resistance and pro-inflammatory state. He has completed several kinetic studies examining the effects of weight reduction, fish oils, ezetimibe, atorvastatin and fenofibrate on lipoprotein metabolism in visceral obesity and metabolic syndrome that have gained major national and international recognition.

Professional Committees, Community Engagement and Participation

Dr Chan has served as a regular referee for peer-reviewed scientific journals, including Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Atherosclerosis, J Clin Endocrinol Metab, J Hypertens and Clin Chem. He is on the editorial board of Atherosclerosis (2015-2017 Associate Editor; 2018-current  editorial member) and Clinical Science (Advisor). He has served, and continues to serve as a project research grant reviewer for several agencies, including the NHMRC and the National Heart Foundation of Australia. Beyond serving as a research grant reviewer, he has served on the NHMRC Early Career Fellowships Commit (2015-2016), and continue to serve (2019-) on the NHMRC Partnership Grant Panel.

Dr Chan has been an active member of the Australian Atherosclerosis Society (AAS) for more than 10 years. I was a member of the Australian Atherosclerosis Society Organizing Committee in 2008 and had served as a Chair of a research session at AAS conference (2008). He has served and continues to serve as a consultant scientist to the Western Australia Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FHWA) Program at Royal Perth Hospital. This program provides clinical service for FH patients in Western Australia, including community-based patient support services for FH patients and their families. He also actively participates in the FH Australasia Program (supported by Australian Atherosclerosis Society) and international FH network.

Supervision and Mentoring

Dr Chan is responsible for laboratory teaching and mentoring junior academics, overseas trainees, graduate students and research staff within the MRC. He has supervised and mentored more than 10 BSc/MD/PhD students in the last 10 years. Excellence in mentoring can be demonstrated through the awards garnered by my former students and research fellows. Dick has assessed research grants for the NHMRC and NHF over a period of 10 years.