Biography: Dr. Victor Chang

By Daniel Ein Alshaeba, 2025

Published 12/6/2023

Photo courtesy of Google

On November 21, 2023, Google displayed a new doodle commemorating the 87th birthday of Dr. Victor Chang, featuring a portrait of the esteemed surgeon, alongside a heart diagram.  

Victor Chang was born in Shanghai on November 21, 1936, to parents who immigrated from Australia in the early 1930s.  Only two years later, however, his family fled to Hong Kong, following Japan’s invasion of Shanghai.  Tragically, when Victor was only twelve years old, his mother died of breast cancer – a loss that drove him toward the medical field.  After moving to Australia in the 50s, Chang graduated from the University of Sydney in 1962 with a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery.  

Dr. Chang played a revolutionary role in the field of cardiology.  In 1984, Victor Chang performed the first successful heart transplant in Australia, operating on 14-year-old Victoria Coote, who is still alive to this day.  Between 1984 and 1991, Dr. Chang performed over 197 heart transplants, in addition to 14 heart and lung transplants.  Alongside many successful transplants, he also helped develop the first artificial heart valve and developed prototypes for the first artificial heart.  As a result of these valuable contributions to society, Victor Chang was awarded Australia’s highest honor, a Companion of the Order of Australia, in 1986.  

On July 4th, 1991, however, tragedy struck as Dr. Chang was murdered during a failed attempt at extorting his family.  Chang’s legacy still lives today through the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, which seeks to undertake meticulous research to better understand, diagnose, treat, and prevent cardiac disease.