ProfessorJohn O'Sullivan

Research policy and international consensus

Chairs DECODE-HFpEF, an international expert consensus on matching phenotype to therapy in HFpEF, with contributors across Argentina, Australia, China, Europe, Japan, Singapore and the United States.

Member of the Novel Risk Assessment Expert Subgroup for the 2023 Australian cardiovascular disease risk guidelines and risk calculator, which apply to 12 million Australians over 40. Assessed the utility of novel biomarkers for inclusion.

Director of the National Stiff Heart Failure Alliance, addressing a population of approximately 500,000 Australians with heart failure, and engaging with policymakers through the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand Heart Failure Council and the National Heart Foundation.

Established the Alliance’s Consumer Advocacy Group, led by Christian Vericchio, Chief Executive of Heart Support Australia, and Tanya Hall, Chief Executive and founder of hearts4heart. Patient education meetings attended by more than 200 people have led to the formation of new patient groups and to direct engagement with the CSANZ Heart Failure Council.

Member of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance Precision Medicine Flagship, guiding the translation of precision medicine into healthcare.

Institutional leadership: The University of Sydney

Inaugural Professor of Cardiometabolic Medicine, and founder of Australia’s first dedicated Cardiometabolic Medicine program.

Established and leads the Developmental Programming and Precision Heart Failure nodes at the Charles Perkins Centre, drawing on cross-cutting expertise across that multidisciplinary environment.

Member of the Steering Committees of Sydney Mass Spectrometry and Sydney Imaging, with responsibility for equitable access for users.

Leads the design and delivery of teaching in cardiometabolic medicine to students in medicine, dentistry, physiology and science, through lectures, tutorials and bedside teaching.

Institutional leadership: Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

Established and directs the Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction Program, overseeing clinics involving five cardiologists in heart failure and imaging, cardiology trainees, heart failure nurse specialists and students. Identifies shortcomings in management and initiates changes to protocols and clinical practice.

Director of Quality and Outcomes, Department of Cardiology, identifying structural and systemic safety vulnerabilities and instituting new pathways to improve outcomes.

Established the institutional management team for three investigator-initiated and investigator-led clinical trials: CardioNAD (ACTRN12622000340730), pEF-NAD (ACTRN12622000372785) and pEF-EX (ACTRN12625001252404).

Research team leadership

Leads the Cardiometabolic Medicine group at the University of Sydney, setting strategic direction, providing mentorship, and connecting the group’s work to the clinic and to the community through patient advisory groups.

Established a heart failure biopsy program in collaboration with five cardiothoracic surgeons and cardiologists, and built on it an ex vivo program of living, beating human heart tissue and cells, the largest such program in Australia.

Leads an emerging Asia-Pacific collaborative program in HFpEF with Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, and Xi’an Jiaotong University, China.

Professional service

Editorial Board Member, Scientific Reports.

Assessor, Medical Research Future Fund Clinical Trials Activity round.

Grant reviewer for the National Health and Medical Research Council, the National Heart Foundation, the European Research Council, and national research councils in France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Reviews approximately ten applications each year.

Peer reviewer for Circulation, the European Journal of Heart Failure, Nature Communications and Cell Metabolism, reviewing approximately thirty manuscripts each year.

Invited Expert Panel Member at the European Society of Cardiology Scientific Sessions.

Invited Grand Rounds speaker, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, London, 2026.

Member of Steering Committees at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and the Centenary Institute.