02 February 2026
Professor Shaun Gregory’s path into biomedical engineering may have been accidental, but his career achievements since then are far from it. In this Partner Showcase, Professor Gregory, a global leader in cardiovascular engineering, reflects on his journey, which has led him home to expand Australia’s cardiovascular device ecosystem in Queensland.
“While I was in high school, my grandpa died of cancer, and a well-meaning guidance officer suggested that I pursue a biomedical engineering career to improve cancer treatments,” Professor Gregory said.
“As it turned out, I thoroughly enjoyed my degree at Queensland University of Technology. During my final year, I shifted my focus to cardiovascular engineering following an incredible experience during my honours project at The Prince Charles Hospital.
“Worldwide, 64 million people are affected by heart failure. They have few treatment options, and many advanced heart failure patients die while waiting for a heart transplant.”
Professor Gregory was inspired by 2 field pioneers: his honours, master’s and PhD supervisors; clinician-researcher Professor John Fraser; and Dr Daniel Timms, inventor of the BiVACOR total artificial heart, which 20 years later is being implanted in trial patients in the US and Australia.
With strong links to the Prince Charles Hospital, this research team regularly immersed itself in the world of cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and patients, gathering insights to enhance medical device development.
After his PhD, Professor Gregory was offered a job overseas but opted for a postdoctoral fellowship position at The University of Queensland to live with and support his brother, who was having cancer treatment.
During the first year of his postdoctoral fellowship, Professor Gregory began directing the Innovative Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology Laboratory (ICETLab), which joined John Fraser’s NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Advanced Mechanical Heart and Lung Support Therapies.
After 5 years, the lab had grown to 25 people. In 2017, Monash University reached out, inviting Professor Gregory to establish cardiovascular engineering in Melbourne and offering him a permanent role.
“It was an opportunity to help design the research space within The Victorian Heart Hospital, built on the Monash campus, fusing research and clinical practice,” Professor Gregory explained. “One floor of that hospital was filled with dedicated, custom-built lab spaces. I founded and directed a team of 30 researchers, who made up the Cardiovascular and Respiratory Engineering and Technology Laboratory (CREATElab), all working together on improving artificial heart devices.”
Professor David Kaye, Director of Cardiology at The Alfred Hospital, and Professor Gregory founded and now co-lead the Artificial Heart Frontiers Program (AHFP), a multidisciplinary consortium that uses cutting-edge technologies to transform heart failure care.
In 2024, they secured a $50-million Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant – the third largest in MRFF history – to take lifesaving artificial heart devices to market. Besides potentially halving heart failure deaths, the AHFP is expected to create thousands of jobs and add $1.8 billion to the Australian economy.
Professor Gregory’s research is not just academic; its key measure of success is the real-world impact on patient care by getting commercial devices into hospitals to support heart failure patients. His current work program includes:
Professor Gregory noted that the lead time to achieve clinical implementation of such complex devices is, even optimistically, 10 years.
“They must be durable, safe and effective – a process that takes time,” Professor Gregory said. “We engage early with clinicians, patients and carers, ensuring their feedback reaches our engineers and designers.”
He is also developing training programs and simulation tools that enable surgeons to build and maintain skills with artificial devices, leading to measurable improvements in clinical practice and patient care.
In 2024, Professor Gregory returned home to Queensland as the Director of the QUT Centre for Biomedical Technologies, driven by 2 main factors.
“Aside from being able to bring my family back to the city where I was born, I was able to achieve 1 of the 2 career goals I set during my PhD—to apply my biomedical engineering expertise more broadly through leading a biomedical engineering centre,” Professor Gregory said. “QUT is one of Australia’s and the world’s top universities for biomedical engineering.
“Queensland has a strong network of universities, health and hospital services, local industry and global companies, which must collaborate more effectively. I look forward to fostering this collaboration and investment.”
Professor Gregory’s second PhD goal was to become President of the International Society for Mechanical Circulatory Support – a goal he achieved before he turned 40.
He is also the Founder and Director of the Heart Hackathon, an international student team competition, in which students work year on year to develop their own artificial heart prototypes. Over 450 engineering students from 14 teams around the globe participated in 2025, with the final in Vienna, Austria.
“This competition helps build the next generation of biomedical engineers, giving competing students real-world skills that get them ahead in research and the industry,” Professor Gregory said.
Beyond advancing patient outcomes, Professor Gregory’s work highlights the value of ongoing collaboration across universities, hospitals, and industry to nurture Australia’s innovative medical device ecosystem.
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