Meet the Board

Dr Wright co-founded Chain of Hope with Sir Magdi in 1995 and has led some 30 overseas medical missions. Dr Wright has sat on the Board of Trustees form the beginning and was voted Chairman in 2012. In 2007, Dr Gavin Wright was nominated for one of the heroes of the year in The Independent, highlighting the exceptional lengths he takes in his overseas voluntary work with Chain of Hope.

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Dr Wright graduated in Medicine from the University of Rhodesia and went on to specialise in Anaethesia in South Africa working with greats such as Christian Bernhart. Moving to the UK in 1986, Dr Wright has worked on the world’s leading transplant programme of its time at Harefield Hospital alongside Sir Magdi Yacoub. Since living in the UK, Dr Wright has worked at some of the top hospitals for paediatric and cardiac care including Great Ormond Street Hospital, The Royal Brompton and Harefield Trust, Papworth Hospital and the Heart Hospital.

Noted as one of the UK’s top 100 surgeons in the Sunday Times, 2005, Professor Tsang joined the Board of Trustees in 2007 after volunteering as a specialist surgeon and project lead for the charity’s programme in Jamaica. Professor Tsang is the chief of paediatric cardiothoracic surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and specialises in neonatal cardiac surgery as well as GUCH surgery.

Professor Tsang remains extremely active in all areas of his speciality having published hundreds of articles on the topic as well as lecturing widely around the world, including co-authoring the manual on congenital heart disease (CHD) with Professor Marc de Leval, a book that has turned into the bible of diagnostics for CHD worldwide.

Jason is an English qualified solicitor with 18 years of professional experience and acts as the EMEA General Counsel for a large banking group in the asset management sector.

Jason’s involvement with Chain of Hope was borne out of his wish to deploy his legal skills in the charity sector for the benefit of others, something he wished to do for many years and which would compliment his professional commitments. When looking for the “right” trustee position, he was drawn towards the healthcare sector. There was a great need and an opportunity to work with others and make a meaningful impact. Jason sought suggestions from wife, also someone working in paediatric healthcare sector, about the many fantastic charities and at this point, he was made aware of the wonderful work undertaken by Chain of Hope.

The skills obtained from many years in legal practice allow Jason to bring a fresh perspectives to the Board. In particular, a keen eye for legal, reputational and operational risk as well as a non-medical view on key issues which the charity considers in its operation.

Vibeke first became involved with Chain of Hope in 2009 when she was invited to participate in a surgical mission to Jamaica. Vibeke Hjortdal is Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark, specializing in congenital heart diseases. She holds a PhD and is a Doctor of Medical Sciences. Professor Hjortdal has been knighted by the Queen of Denmark and is a member of the Order of the Dannebrog.

Dr Magee undertook his medical degree at Queen’s University, Belfast. Following this Dr Magee trained at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, one of the largest and most prestigious children’s hospitals in the world, where he specialised in the catheter treatment of children with congenital heart disease.

After working 13 years as Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at The Royal Brompton and Harefield Trust, in 2013 Dr Magee was appointed Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at Southampton University Hospital. Dr Magee has been involved with Chain of Hope for many years not only serving on the Board of Trustees but also through undertaking overseas missions, and through his involvement in the Child Referral Board which he chaired for five years.

In particular Dr Magee instigated the training of two cardiologists from Jamaica and worked with The Royal Brompton Hospital and Chain of Hope to create two cardiology fellowships. Dr Magee continues to mentor these two cardiologists at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, Jamaica, through regular visits to the hospital.

Maura is a Lead Nurse ECMO at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. Maura sits on the Chain of Hope Nursing Board and also directs nursing training programmes in Ethiopia, Jamaica and Uganda.

Sustainability, quality and local ownership are paramount for the success of the cardiac programme, therefore submission of the cardiac training programme is made to the local ministry of health for approval. Local nurse educators are supported with training and development to maintain their local cardiac training programmes.

A world pioneer in heart surgery, Sir Magdi recently received the highest award possible from Her Majesty the Queen, the Order of Merit, for his service to humanitarian work and the fight against cardiovascular disease. Sir Magdi is also a Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Imperial College London and Director of the Magdi Yacoub Research Network which has created the Qatar Cardiovascular Research Centre in collaboration with the Qatar Foundation and Hamad Medical Corporate.

Dedicated to global healthcare delivery, Sir Magdi founded Chain of Hope in the UK in 1995, focusing on Jamaica and Egypt. Since then Sir Magdi has grown the organisation through his network of world class specialists who join in his humanitarian work to help patients in need and to pursue the vision of creating sustainable cardiac centres for countries’ neglected regions.