Our Team
Meet the team of professionals at Charles Clinic
Dr Geoffrey Evans
General, Echo and Heart Failure
Dr Geoffrey Evans
General, Echo and Heart Failure
Dr Geoffrey Evans is a Tasmanian medical graduate. He completed his physician and cardiology training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide and the specialist fellowship in echocardiography at St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
He completed the CT coronary angiography program at Cleveland Clinic, Ohio and is a member of the American Society of Cardiovascular CT.
He worked as a cardiologist at Flinders Medical Centre, Flinders Cardiac Clinic, Wakefield Hospital and the Heart & Vascular Institute, Adelaide from 2007 to 2010, in general cardiology, heart failure and echocardiography.
Dr Evans specialises in echocardiography with expertise in transoesophageal echo, stress echocardiography, contrast ultrasound and 3D echocardiography. He has a special interest in cardiac oncology and multi-modality imaging.
He is an active member of the American Society of Echocardiography and has completed their examination process to Board level.
Dr Evans has a special interest in delivery of Cardiology services to rural and remote communities and has been a consultant for the ICARNET GP support service, as well as consulting within regional communities in Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Dr James Mau
General, Electrophysiology and Devices
Dr James Mau
General, Electrophysiology and Devices
Dr James C Mau is a specialist Electrophysiologist and Device Implanter. He has extensive experience in complex device implants and regularly trains and proctors Electrophysiologists in this skill in Tasmania and the Australian mainland. He has been a pioneer in advancing and undertaking complex implanting in Tasmania with a complication rate of <0.5%.
He completed his medical degree in 2006 at the University of Sydney prior to being awarded a PhD in Cardiology at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney in 2009. Fellowship training was undertaken in Sydney and New Zealand.
He initially trained in Cardiothoracic surgery, which after exposure to device implantation, prompted a career move to physicians training in order to specialise as an Electrophysiologist and complex device specialist.
He now offers a diverse skill set not previously available in Tasmania and specialises in complex resynchronisation pacemakers, conduction system pacing, wire externalisation pacing techniques and defibrillators (both transvenous and subcutaneous), rhythm management, heart failure, general electrophysiology and cardiology.
He is the director of EP services at the Charles Clinic and manages a busy Holter service as well as offering Tilt Table Testing.
He divides his clinical time between Launceston, Hobart and the North West with public appointments in the North West.
After hours and weekends he enjoys time with his wife, two boys as well as his hobby farm.
Dr Nikhil Pal
General and Interventional
Dr Nikhil Pal
General and Interventional
Dr Nikhil Pal, General and Interventional Cardiologist, joins the Clinic in a full time permanent capacity.
Nikhil has come to us from UK, via South Australia, where has been working at Flinders Medical Centre (Adelaide) for the last 2 years as a Cardiology Interventional Fellow.
His specialist training in General and Interventional cardiology was accomplished at Oxford, where he also studied for his Phd and was subsequently a Clinical Lecturer with the University. He is a recipient of numerous Gold medals and has a prolific publishing record.
Having gained substantial experience through fellowships based at Oxford (UK), Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospital (UK) and Flinders Medical Centre (Australia) in the field of General and Interventional Cardiology.
Dr Pal’s speciality includes:
- Coronary artery disease diagnosis and treatment,
- TAVI in aortic stenosis,
- PFO/ASD closure,
- Left Atrial appendage closure
Dr Pal has now decided to base himself at Launceston and serve the community. Nikhil and his wife are excited to start a fresh chapter in Tasmania
Dr Sylvia Chen
Congenital and MRI
Dr Sylvia Chen
Congenital and MRI
Dr Sylvia Chen is a Cardiologist in adult congenital heart disease, having trained for 3 years at the Grown-Up Congenital Heart Disease (GUCH) unit at University College Hospital (London), and then for 4 years at the Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (Cardiac MRI) unit at the Royal Brompton Hospital (London).
She continued to work in clinical adult congenital heart disease with the congenital heart disease unit there during her 4 years at the Royal Brompton Hospital, alongside training in CMR.
She is also currently Associate Editor with the Society of Cardiovascular MRI (USA), has recently published a book chapter titled ‘Aortic Anomalies’ in the textbook ‘Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Congenital Heart Disease’ and has done research in congenital heart disease.
Dr John Voukelatos
General Cardiology
Dr GJohn Voukelatos
General Cardiology
Trained in adult cardiology at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, with a Fellowship in Echocardiography.
Dr John Voukelatos has an interest in adult cardiology being qualified in transthoracic echocardiography, transoesophageal echocardiography, and clinical cardiology.
He is also affiliated with the RMH Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic at the RMH with an interest in this area.
Dr Stewart Healy
Electrophysiology
Dr Stewart Healy
Electrophysiology
Dr Stewart Healy is a Cardiologist and Electrphysiologist who completed his clinical training in 2009 at Monash Medical Centre after moving from Tasmania where he had completed basic training at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
Stewart then completed a one year non-invasive imaging fellowship at Monash Heart in 2010 before completing a three year fellowship in Electrophysiology, having recently returned from a year of further training in Canada at a high volume electrophysiology centre with a particular interest in atrial fibrillation ablation.
He is based in Victoria and works at Linacre Hospital, Hampton, the Valley Hospital in Mulgrave and Warragul.
Stewart’s particular interests are atrial fibrillation management and device therapy for arrhythmias and heart failure.
Stewart has three children who keep him very busy and is an avid golfer.
Mr Michael O’Keefe
Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Dr Michael O’Keefe
Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Mr Michael O’Keefe is a fully Australasian trained cardiothoracic surgeon. After completing his fellowship training at the Royal Melbourne, St Vincent’s, Austin and the John Hunter Hospitals, he completed a post fellowship training in advanced valve repair and aortic root fellowship at St Luc Hospital in Brussels under the mentorship of Gebrine El Khoury. His qualification and achievements are as follows :
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Jan 2013 – Fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery
University Degrees Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (Hons)
University of Tasmania, 2002
Bachelor of Medical Science
University of Tasmania, 2000
Medical Registration Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency
Current Appointments
VMO Cardiothoracic Surgeon, St Vincent’s Health. May 2015
VMO Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Royal Melbourne Hospital July 2014
Visiting Medical Practitioner:
St Vincent’s and Mercy Private Hospital, Fitzroy
Epworth Hospitals – Richmond
Melbourne Private Hospital
Charles Clinic Heart Care, Launceston
Professional Memberships:
Royal Australian College of Surgeons – Fellow 2013
Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons – Full Member 2013
Dr Ai Vee Ng
General Cardiology
Dr Ai Vee Ng
General Cardiology
Dr Aivee Ng is returning to Charles Clinic Heart Care having finished her research commitments at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She will be providing regular Consulting Services, Echo reporting and Stress testing from November 2013.
Dr Ng has a background in non-invasive imaging, particularly echocardiography and has recently completed an Echo Research Fellowship in the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She has previously completed General Echocardiography Fellowships at the National Heart Centre in 2011 and Royal Melbourne Hospital in 2012.
Dr Ng’s advanced training in Cardiology was completed at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Adelaide and Basic Physician training at the Queen Elizabeth and Royal Adelaide Hospitals.
Dr Ng is able to converse fluently in 5 different languages.
A Prof David Platts
Transplant and Echocardiography
A Prof David Platts
Transplant and Echocardiography
David is from Wynyard originally and studied Medicine at the University of Tasmania, graduating with a MBBS in 1993. He completed his cardiology training in Hobart and Sydney, obtaining his Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (Cardiology) in 2000. David is a Senior Staff Specialist on both the Queensland Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Unit and the Department of Echocardiography. He is also a Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine, University of Queensland. David obtained a Doctor of Medicine research higher degree from Kings College, University of London, England, in contrast echocardiography. He leads the contrast research programme at The Prince Charles Hospital and is recognised nationally as a leader in this area. David has been awarded numerous echocardiography research grants and has published internationally on the subjects of contrast echocardiography and mechanical cardiac support.
David sees patients with all forms of clinical cardiology issues. He also has a particular interest in patients with breathlessness, heart failure, valve problems, peri-operative management of cardiac problems and medical diseases affecting the heart. David also specialises in all forms of non-invasive imaging of the heart using ultrasound (echocardiography) including contrast echocardiography, stress echocardiography and trans-oesophageal echocardiography.
Sonographers
Sabby
Phillipa
Linda
Justin
Kurt
Gill
Jenni
John
Carla
Cheryn
Cam
Tas Holters
Admin Team
Be Part of Our Team
We are often seeking skilled, proactive health professionals and administrative staff.
Community Focus
Our enduring philosophy is to welcome and encourage new expertise for the benefit of the entire community.
We aim to provide high standards of care and technical knowledge as well as inclusive clinical leadership. Our ongoing primary focus continues to be achieving better health outcomes for our Tasmanian community.
