Blood ties

Report: Shaunnagh O'Loughlin
Photography: Neil Bennett

A personal connection to the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD) led Gordon Wheaton and his family to establish the Wheaton Family PhD Scholarship in Blood Diseases in 2008.

Through their philanthropy the Wheaton family wants to help build the critical mass of knowledge required to help people living with blood diseases and provide students with important financial support. In 2009 the scholarship program had its first recipient in cardiologist Dr Saheb Al-Daher.

A year on, both Gordon and Saheb reflect on what brought them together.

Gordon Wheaton

"I have been receiving treatment for a rare blood disease called paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria at the centre for many years. ACBD director Professor Hatem Salem was my physician and haematologist. As my treatment continued he made a case for me to get a new life-saving drug.He has gone above and beyond for me — something I am extremely grateful for.

"Visiting the centre regularly I knew that a lot of their research was about thrombosis and blood clotting — something that is a factor in so many illnesses. The impact of their work on quite large patient populations is significant.

"My family and I were fortunate to be in a position to give something back. Here was a way we could say thank you for what they have done for us over the years, but at the same time maybe also try to help others. We decided that trying to further the research efforts of the centre by making a donation to support PhD scholarships was the way we could help most.

"I think many people get to a stage in their life, like I have, where they want to give back. If they are in a position to be able to help, they should, and know that they will get great personal benefit. Our contribution to the centre is very much a family contribution and I hope that my family will remain engaged with it into the future.It is actually a privilege for us to be able to help in some small way.

"Saheb is driven to his research because of the impact of blood clotting on his cardiac patients. I'm extremely pleased that we are able to support him to do that. I can see the profound implications of what he is doing and it's good to be associated with it. While I don't have his understanding of the research process, I enjoy the conversations I have with him and I appreciate the efforts both he and Professor Salem make to involve me with it.

"I'm actually quite moved by Saheb and am particularly excited and pleased that he is doing this particular research. Here is a successful practising surgeon whose curiosity is such that he is giving that up for some time to investigate this particular aspect of patient management. For somebody to set their professional income earning activity aside to explore their curiosity, as well as their passion and concern for their patients, takes a special kind of person … and I think Saheb is a special sort of person."

A figurehead in the Australian Financial Services industry, Mr Wheaton is the former Executive Vice-President for Visa Australia and New Zealand, and former Chief Executive Officer, Australian Financial Services, and Manager Domestic Banking Operations, for the National Australia Bank.

Dr Saheb Al-Daher

"I lost my father to a heart attack when I was eight and it hit me very hard. I decided to become a doctor so I could help people. Medicine is a gift — there's nothing better than to be able to make people happy. I've been a doctor for 17 years.

"I moved to Australia from Iraq in 1999. The Saddam regime wasn't very supportive of doctors. I wanted to be a physician and a cardiologist and to do that I had to move to a Western country. I moved to Australia straight away to continue my specialty training.

"Leaving my work as a cardiologist was hard because I love it. I also knew it would be a big move from clinical practise to bench research. I contacted Professor Salem at the ACBD about undertaking a PhD on blood clotting because it was something I was dealing with in my clinical work every day. I thought there must be some improvement we could achieve for patients through further research. He introduced me to the head of the thrombosis lab at the ACBD, Professor Shaun Jackson. They would become my co-supervisors. Soon after that Professor Salem introduced me to Gordon.

"The Wheaton Family PhD Scholarship has been a great help to me in providing financial support so I can concentrate on my research and continue to support my family. I'm now into the second year. It's been challenging; there are a lot of things that I've had to learn and re-learn, but the team has been very supportive.

"My project looks at the increased risk of blood clotting problems in diabetic patients and people with high cholesterol. We know that platelets, tiny blood cells that prevent bleeding, are hyperactive in diabetic patients and are therefore more likely to cause blood clot formation in diseased arteries. Patients with diabetes also respond less well to medicines that are normally effective at preventing heart attacks and strokes. Long term I hope to identify new approaches to prevent clotting abnormalities in diabetic patients.

"Throughout my research project Gordon and I have developed a good relationship and it's great to have his support. I almost feel that he is a father figure to me. When I'm working on an experiment I can imagine Gordon and my supervisors behind me encouraging me and giving me that push.

"Support from people like Gordon and his family means that people like me get to do research. We get so much from this one generous gift encouragement to others to help through philanthropy, support for a PhD student, satisfaction in Gordon's life, and a friendship that I hope will last forever. Thank you is not enough for him."

Dr Al-Daher is a cardiologist at Geelong Hospital and a PhD student in the Thrombosis Research Laboratory at the ACBD.