Gemma Figtree AM is an Interventional Cardiologist at Royal North Shore Hospital, Professor in Medicine at the University of Sydney, chair of the Federal Government's 10-year Mission for Cardiovascular Health, [1] [2] and co-leader of the Cardiovascular Theme for Sydney Health Partners. [3]
Figtree has dedicated her career to unravelling key mechanisms of heart attack susceptibility, combining clinical work as an interventional cardiologist with laboratory research, large cohort studies, and clinical trials. [3]
As a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, Figtree's cardiovascular research led to fundamental discoveries about estrogen and NO/redox regulation. Her research focuses on improving prediction, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease and heart attacks, inspired by her clinical work as an interventional cardiologist. [3]
Discoveries in her laboratory have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, with over 190 publications cited ~9250 times.[ citation needed ] Driven by patient care as an interventional cardiologist, Figtree's research reflects bench-to-bedside knowledge translation of molecular discoveries to the clinic, and her work with health digital twin technology [4] contributes to advances in precision medicine.
As a cardiologist spokesperson, Figtree has been recognized for her work with baby heart conditions, [5] cardiovascular disease, and heart attacks in people who are not identified as "at risk", [6] [1] and leads the Federal Mission for Cardiovascular Health. [2]
| Year | TItle | Journal |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | The health digital twin: advancing precision cardiovascular medicine [4] | Nature Reviews Cardiology |
| 2021 | Mortality in STEMI patients without standard modifiable risk factors: a sex-disaggregated analysis of SWEDEHEART registry data [7] | The Lancet |
| 2020 | Using machine learning to ace cardiovascular risk tests [8] | Cardiovascular Research |
| 2021 | FXYD1 Is Protective Against Vascular Dysfunction [9] | Hypertension |
| 2020 | Single‐Cell Immune Profiling in Coronary Artery Disease: The Role of State‐of‐the‐Art Immunophenotyping With Mass Cytometry in the Diagnosis of Atherosclerosis [10] | Circulation Research |
| 2021 | Association of Global Coagulation Profiles With Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Atherosclerosis: A Sex Disaggregated Analysis From the BioHEART‐CT Study [11] | Circulation Research |
| 2021 | A Call to Action for New Global Approaches to Cardiovascular Disease Drug Solutions [12] | Circulation Research |
| 2021 | Bench-to-Bedside in Vascular Medicine: Optimizing the Translational Pipeline for Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease [13] | Circulation Research |
| 2021 | Coronary artery disease patients without standard modifiable risk factors (SMuRFs)- a forgotten group calling out for new discoveries [14] | European Heart Journal |
| 2021 | A call to action for new global approaches to cardiovascular disease drug solutions [15] | European Heart Journal |
Figtree was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2023 Australia Day Honours. [16]
She was awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Excellence Award for Top Ranked Practitioner Fellow (Australia), commencing in 2018. In 2019 and 2020 she received the prestigious NSW Ministerial Award for Cardiovascular Research Excellence. [17]
| Year | Award | Organisation |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | NSW Ministerial Award for Cardiovascular Research Excellence | NSW Health + Heart Foundation |
| 2019 | NSW Ministerial Award for Cardiovascular Research Excellence | NSW Health + Heart Foundation |
| 2018 | Excellence Award for Top Ranked Practitioner Fellow (Australia) | NHMRC |
Cardiology is the study of the heart. In medicine, cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology. Physicians who specialize in this field of medicine are called cardiologists, a specialty of internal medicine. Pediatric cardiologists are pediatricians who specialize in cardiology. Physicians who specialize in cardiac surgery are called cardiothoracic surgeons or cardiac surgeons, a specialty of general surgery.
Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial ischemia, or simply heart disease, involves the reduction of blood flow to the heart muscle due to build-up of atherosclerotic plaque in the arteries of the heart. It is the most common of the cardiovascular diseases. Types include stable angina, unstable angina, myocardial infarction, and sudden cardiac death. A common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck, or jaw. Occasionally it may feel like heartburn. Usually symptoms occur with exercise or emotional stress, last less than a few minutes, and improve with rest. Shortness of breath may also occur and sometimes no symptoms are present. In many cases, the first sign is a heart attack. Other complications include heart failure or an abnormal heartbeat.
Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheromatous plaque. At onset there are usually no symptoms, but if they develop, symptoms generally begin around middle age. When severe, it can result in coronary artery disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease, or kidney problems, depending on which arteries are affected.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction. Other CVDs include stroke, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, abnormal heart rhythms, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.
Interventional cardiology is a branch of cardiology that deals specifically with the catheter based treatment of structural heart diseases. Andreas Gruentzig is considered the father of interventional cardiology after the development of angioplasty by interventional radiologist Charles Dotter.
Stephen E. Epstein is the Head of Translational and Vascular Biology Research at the MedStar Heart and Vascular Institute, MedStar Washington Hospital Center and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Georgetown University School of Medicine.
Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a non-surgical procedure used to treat narrowing of the coronary arteries of the heart found in coronary artery disease. The process involves combining coronary angioplasty with stenting, which is the insertion of a permanent wire-meshed tube that is either drug eluting (DES) or composed of bare metal (BMS). The stent delivery balloon from the angioplasty catheter is inflated with media to force contact between the struts of the stent and the vessel wall, thus widening the blood vessel diameter. After accessing the blood stream through the femoral or radial artery, the procedure uses coronary catheterization to visualise the blood vessels on X-ray imaging. After this, an interventional cardiologist can perform a coronary angioplasty, using a balloon catheter in which a deflated balloon is advanced into the obstructed artery and inflated to relieve the narrowing; certain devices such as stents can be deployed to keep the blood vessel open. Various other procedures can also be performed.
Circulation is a scientific journal published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins for the American Heart Association. The journal publishes articles related to research in and the practice of cardiovascular diseases, including observational studies, clinical trials, epidemiology, health services and outcomes studies, and advances in applied (translational) and basic research. Its 2020 impact factor is 29.690, ranking it third among journals in the Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems category and first in the Peripheral Vascular Disease category. Articles become open access after a 12-month embargo period.
The history of invasive and interventional cardiology is complex, with multiple groups working independently on similar technologies. Invasive and interventional cardiology is currently closely associated with cardiologists, though the development and most of its early research and procedures were performed by diagnostic and interventional radiologists.
Coronary ischemia, myocardial ischemia, or cardiac ischemia, is a medical term for a reduced blood flow in the coronary circulation through the coronary arteries. Coronary ischemia is linked to heart disease, and heart attacks. Coronary arteries deliver oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. Reduced blood flow to the heart associated with coronary ischemia can result in inadequate oxygen supply to the heart muscle. When oxygen supply to the heart is unable to keep up with oxygen demand from the muscle, the result is the characteristic symptoms of coronary ischemia, the most common of which is chest pain. Chest pain due to coronary ischemia commonly radiates to the arm or neck. Certain individuals such as women, diabetics, and the elderly may present with more varied symptoms. If blood flow through the coronary arteries is stopped completely, cardiac muscle cells may die, known as a myocardial infarction, or heart attack.
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck or jaw. Often it occurs in the center or left side of the chest and lasts for more than a few minutes. The discomfort may occasionally feel like heartburn. Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, nausea, feeling faint, a cold sweat or feeling tired. About 30% of people have atypical symptoms. Women more often present without chest pain and instead have neck pain, arm pain or feel tired. Among those over 75 years old, about 5% have had an MI with little or no history of symptoms. An MI may cause heart failure, an irregular heartbeat, cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest.
A diagnosis of myocardial infarction is created by integrating the history of the presenting illness and physical examination with electrocardiogram findings and cardiac markers. A coronary angiogram allows visualization of narrowings or obstructions on the heart vessels, and therapeutic measures can follow immediately. At autopsy, a pathologist can diagnose a myocardial infarction based on anatomopathological findings.
John S. Rumsfeld is an American cardiologist. He is the Chief Innovation Officer for the American College of Cardiology, and Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He was previously the National Director of Cardiology for the U.S. Veterans Health Administration. Rumsfeld was named as Chief Innovation Officer for American College of Cardiology in 2015.
Ischemic cardiomyopathy is a type of cardiomyopathy caused by a narrowing of the coronary arteries which supply blood to the heart. Typically, patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy have a history of acute myocardial infarction, however, it may occur in patients with coronary artery disease, but without a past history of acute myocardial infarction. This cardiomyopathy is one of the leading causes of sudden cardiac death. The adjective ischemic means characteristic of, or accompanied by, ischemia — local anemia due to mechanical obstruction of the blood supply.
Major adverse cardiovascular events is a composite endpoint frequently used in cardiovascular research. Despite widespread use of the term in clinical trials, the definitions of MACE can differ, which makes comparison of similar studies difficult.
In medicine, vein graft failure (VGF) is a condition in which vein grafts, which are used as alternative conduits in bypass surgeries, get occluded.
Erin Kathleen Donnelly Michos is an American cardiologist. She is an associate professor of Medicine and Director of Women's Cardiovascular Health at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Michos is also an Associate Faculty of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research at Johns Hopkins, and has a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Michelle Asha Albert is an American physician who is the Walter A. Haas Lucie-Stern Endowed Chair in Cardiology and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Albert is director of the UCSF Center for the Study of Adversity and Cardiovascular Disease. She is president of the American Heart Association. She served as the president of the Association of Black Cardiologists in 2020–2022 and as president of the Association of University Cardiologists (2021–2022). Albert is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Society of Clinical Investigators.
Roxana Mehran is an Iranian-American cardiologist and Mount Sinai Endowed Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is known for her work in interventional cardiology.
Thomas F. Lüscher is a Swiss professor of cardiology, director of research, education and development and a consultant cardiologist at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College London, and director of the Center for Molecular Cardiology at the University of Zurich.
