Patrons
Mr William J Brawn CBE, FRCS (CT)
Consultant Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon (Retired)
William Brawn is a pioneer of paediatric congenital heart surgery, especially complex congenital care and has worked tirelessly for many years to continuously improve and promote the best working practices within cardiac services - which ultimately gives heart babies and children a better chance of a more fulfilled life.
Mr Brawn first trained at The Royal London Hospital and then moved to New Zealand to study at Green Lane Hospital under Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes, one of the world’s leading paediatric heart surgeons at that time. Australia followed when he went to work at the Melbourne Royal Children’s Hospital with a return to the UK and Birmingham in 1988. His considerable experience took him all over the world including Italy, Egypt, Malaysia, India and Pakistan.
It is through his dedication to saving lives that in 2011, he was honoured with a CBE from Her Majesty The Queen for Services to Medicine and we cannot think of a more fitting tribute.
Mr Brawn has always been a stalwart supporter of Young at Heart and we value his continued influence to help raise the profile of the support and services we provide to our families.
“The leading members of the committee are wonderful people who are hard working in the support of this Charity endeavouring to improve the welfare and care of children with congenital heart disease in our region and beyond. Young at Heart is closely related to the other groups within the UK caring for children with heart conditions such as the Children’s Heart Federation and are dedicated to the continuing care and support for heart children and their families. In its fundraising activities, the Charity helps to provide much needed resources to purchase machinery and hardware to help look after these children with heart problems in Birmingham and also raises funds to help with research to improve the outcome for children with heart conditions. Young at Heart is a very worthwhile and important Charity for children with congenital heart disease and I fully support and endorse the excellent work carried out by this Charity. William Brawn CBE.”
Dr Tristan Ramcharan
Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist
Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital
Tristan grew up in the Caribbean and came to Birmingham for medical school with the aim of doing paediatric cardiology at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. He did his internship with the Adult Congenital Heart Disease team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and then did both paediatric and paediatric cardiology training in the west midlands.
Tristan did his subspecialty training in advanced imaging and was appointed as a consultant at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in 2022.
He is also passionate about sport, exercise, and cardiac rehabilitation. Tristan has an MSc in Sport Cardiology, graduating with Distinction from St George's University London in 2022. As well as paediatric cardiology, he also does pre-participation cardiovascular screening to detect potential causes of sudden cardiac death in young athletes and those involved in competitive sports. As a recognised expert in paediatric sport cardiology, he has been appointed to the English Football Association’s sport cardiology expert panel.
Natasha E Khan
Consultant Cardiac Surgeon (Clinical Lead)
Birmingham Children's Hospital
Natasha Khan grew up in Pakistan and The Netherlands, then came to the UK to attend Medical School in Cambridge and London. She was a Cardiac Surgical Trainee in London, during which time she completed her research degree at Imperial College. She was then selected for the national training programme in Paediatric Cardiac Surgery at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Following this, she spent a year at the Royal Brompton Hospital completing a fellowship in surgery for Adult Congenital Heart Disease.
Phil Botha
Consultant Cardiac Surgeon
Birmingham Children's Hospital
Phil Botha graduated from medical school at Pretoria University, South Africa, and came to the UK to further his training in general and cardiac surgery. He completed national training in cardiac surgery in Newcastle upon Tyne and Middlesbrough. During this time he undertook clinical and laboratory research in cardiac physiology and transplantation and was awarded a PhD by Newcastle University. Before taking up a consultant position in Birmingham, he completed Fellowships in Paediatric and Adult Congenital Cardiac Surgery in the United States at Boston Children’s Hospital and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta / Emory University. His clinical interests include neonatal cardiac surgery, surgery for complex pulmonary atresia and quality improvement research.
Young at Heart ,
Lonsdale House, Suit 305a, 52 Blucher Street, Birmingham, B1 1QU.
Registered charity no.: 512815
Information line: 07874 801 951