Dr Peters has 30+ years experience in clinical and preclinical research, including development and first-in-man testing of minimally invasive heart surgery devices and methods, surgical correction of congenital and acquired heart diseases, heart and lung transplantation and mechanical circulatory support development and clinical application.
Dr Peters completed his medical degree at Otago University in 1989. He was the inaugural clinical research fellow in minimally-invasive cardiac surgery at Stanford University 1994-5 before returning to Melbourne in 1996 to undertake further training in cardiac surgery and transplantation. He completed a Doctorate in Medicine (Monash) in 2002 (Thesis: ‘Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery using Endovascular Cardiopulmonary Bypass and Cardioplegia’).
An unabiding interest in the nature of spiral blood flow in the ascending aorta led to an insight into the evolution of the human heart and Dr Peters’ first book, 'Per Sanguinem Nostrum' published in 2014.
Dr Peters is currently a principal investigator at Matai Medical Research Institute, where he leads the Cardioscience program investigating how the magnetohydrodynamic and redox properties of circulating blood might influence vertebrate evolution and the emergence of endothermy. He is working on his next book.