The Heart Research Institute (HRI) is delighted to announce that world-leading cardiovascular expert Professor Andrew Coats AO is joining the Institute as Interim Scientific Director.
Prof Coats has a long-standing relationship with HRI, having served on the Board of HRI from 2006 to 2009, when he was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at The University of Sydney.
Prof Coats brings to HRI his extensive experience as an academic leader, consultant to government and health agencies, and entrepreneur, having launched two successful spin-out biotechnology companies. He is a fully accredited physician and cardiologist in Australia and the UK, a qualified company director with more than 60 board years of experience, and a trained and experienced fundraiser with in excess of $500M raised.
Named one of the top 1,000 researchers of all time by the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, Prof Coats has over 750 peer-reviewed full papers, over 120,000 career citations, an H-Index of 146, and more than 20 awarded patents.
Prof Coats states, “I am incredibly honoured and excited to be offered this chance to support HRI at this crucial juncture in its proud history. I know the great work of the Institute very well from my time in Sydney and also by its repute across the world of cardiovascular research. I look forward to the challenges and exciting opportunities facing us all at HRI and working with great partners at The University of Sydney, the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and our wide network of researchers globally.”
In welcoming Prof Coats, Chair of HRI The Hon Peter McGauran said, “HRI is fortunate that Andrew will play such a leadership role in driving HRI’s impact in fighting cardiovascular disease. Andrew’s wide perspective on strategic challenges and research direction will be invaluable. Andrew is an extraordinary, enthusiastic and committed individual who will provide strong leadership, especially to young scientists.”
Prof Coats currently holds the positions of Dean, Royal Australasian College of Physicians; Affiliate Professor, Deakin University; and Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Monash University within Australia. Internationally, he holds the positions of Professor of Medicine, University of Warwick in the UK and Senior Professor, San Raffaele Pisana Scientific Institute in Italy. He is also currently a Member of the Court of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the senior advisory body of one of the world’s leading public health institutes.
For a record 18 years, Prof Coats was Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Cardiology, the world’s top non-society clinical cardiology journal, and raised the impact factor from 0.4 to 7.0 during that time. He has held 12 visiting professorships at major universities, given more than 200 invited lectures at international conferences, and has been awarded 46 major named, keynote or prize lectures.
In 2017, Prof Coats was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to medical research and tertiary education in the field of cardiology, as an academic and author, and as a mentor and role model for young scientists.
Prof Coats’ major areas of published research are in integrated clinical pathophysiological and treatment studies of heart failure, cachexia and sarcopenia, the epidemiology of hypertension using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, organisational behaviour and change, research governance in global higher education, and publishing ethics.
Read Prof Coat’s full bio here.
