Optiver, a leading global electronic market maker has donated over $40,000 to HRI since 2016. Each year, Optiver offers Christmas donations to charities nominated by their employees, with these charities invited in to engage with staff in a pre-Christmas campaign to win their votes.
Jamie’s story
HRI was initially nominated by Optiverian, Jamie, who shared his story of heart disease with us and his Optiver colleagues. In late 2012, Jamie was on a surf trip to a remote island in Indonesia, when he started experiencing strange chest sensations and began passing out. He was put on emergency flights, first to a hospital in Bali and then Singapore for further testing. With news that his condition was serious and deteriorating rapidly, he was flown back to Australia immediately and underwent emergency open heart surgery to replace his failing heart valve with a mechanical one. After many long months of rehab, Jamie was able to get back to health, living a full and happy life with his young family.
Getting to know Optiver’s staff
Over the last three years, we have benefited from the chance to get to know Optiver staff, including by bringing blood pressure and pulse checks to the office, curating a heart-healthy menu day in the staff restaurant, as well as taking part in roadshows and lunch-and-learn sessions where our scientists have been able to present and speak directly with Optiver staff about their cutting-edge research.
Revolutionising treatment for heart disease
Optiver has supported our groundbreaking work on nanoparticles as drug carriers to treat disease. In particular, Optiver contributed $20,000 towards our Parts for Hearts campaign to build a world-first plasma reactor to revolutionise the treatment of heart disease through nanomedicine, and we were delighted to welcome Optiverians to visit the reactor at its launch!