Monash welcomes brilliant new talent to women’s heart research
Academic-cardiologist and women’s heart specialist, Dr Esther Davis, has joined Monash University’s Victorian Heart Institute (VHI) to co-lead the Women’s Heart Health research grand challenge.
Having completed speciality training in cardiology and a fellowship in advanced echocardiography at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she worked with the Corrigan Women’s Heart Health Program, she has also been appointed to a clinician role at MonashHeart and will establish the Women’s Heart Health Clinic at the Victorian Heart Hospital (VHH).
For Dr Davis, science piqued her curiosity at a young age, before becoming enthralled with cardiology upon seeing the beating heart for the first time.
“As a medical student I was on exchange in Germany and vividly remember the day I initially got to see the heart beat in a patient during surgery,” said Dr Davis.
“Not long after that I was first exposed to the idea that health during pregnancy could influence and predict the risk of future cardiovascular disease for both mother and child. This led me to pursue my PhD on the cardiovascular impact of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (including pre-eclampsia) at Oxford and cemented my interest in women’s cardiology.”
Though not commonly known, heart disease is the biggest killer of women in Australia, and women are frequently diagnosed later, and with more severe disease, than men.
The VHI’s grand challenges address unmet needs in the cardiovascular research space that are preventing real impact for patients. This includes the under-investigation and under-treatment of women with cardiovascular disease and the under-representation of women in clinical trials, an issue Dr Davis is passionate about solving.
“I have a strong desire to continue to investigate and understand sex-differences in cardiovascular disease, using the grand challenge as a research driver that is connected to clinical need,” she said.
“In conjunction, I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues to establish a clinical service that is accessible and welcoming to all women at the VHH,”
“The overall goal is to provide culturally appropriate, personalised, integrated care to address the special needs of women throughout their lifespan, via a combination of clinical care, community engagement, advocacy, education, and research.”
VHI and MonashHeart Director, Professor Stephen Nicholls, says the need for focus on women’s heart health has never been greater.
“We want to see a world in which there are no longer disparities in heart disease treatment and outcomes for women,” Professor Nicholls said.
“Esther brings a fantastic skill base and passion to lead our work in this area. We’re delighted to have her join us in developing evidence-based programs across research and care.”
Interested in collaborating with Esther? Get in touch at esther.davis@monash.edu