Simon Stewart

Director of Research - The National Echo Database of Australia, Professor
PhD, DMSc, FESC, FAHA, FHFA

simon.stewart@nd.edu.au

  • Biography

    Professor Simon Stewart is a health services reesarcher dedicated to understanding and responding to an evolving epidemic of heart disease in vulnerable people worldwide. He has been continously funded by the NHMRC/MRFF of Australia since completing his PhD in 1999.

    His research has informed >200 expert clinical guidelines worldwide through

    • Large surveillance studies revealing the burden of heart disease from Africa to Alice Springs
    • Multicentre trials revealing the benefits of multidisciplinary management of people hospitalised with chronic heart disease
    • Insights from the world's largest, cardiac imaging database with individual linkage to health outcomes

  • Research expertise and supervision

    Professor Stewart has successfully supervised 21 PhD candidates (most as Principal Supervisor) within the disciplines of nursing, medicine, physiotherapy, occupational health, psychology, public health and epidemiology. Five of these individuals are now Full Professors and 3 Associate Professors, having published their PhD research in high-impact journals and progressed to leading their own research teams.

  • Books

    • Stewart S, Heart Disease & Climate Change.  Springer Press, London, UK – due for release in 2024.
    • Stewart S, Sliwa K, Damasceno A, Mocumbi A, Ntseke M (Editors). The Heart of Africa – Clinical Profile of an Evolving Burden of Heart Disease in Africa  Wiley Publishers, London, UK July 2016.

  • Book chapters

    • Sliwa K & Stewart S. Heart Failure in the Developing World (Chapter 29). In: Heart Failure: A Companion to Braunwald's Heart Disease (4th Edition) Ed GM Felker & DL Mann. Elsevier, Philadelphia, PA, 2019.
    • Stewart S, Keates AK. Economics of Heart Failure in Color in Atlas and Synopsis of Heart Failure SET 2 Ed. Baliga RR & Haas GR, McGraw-Hill Europe, 2019.
    • Stewart S, Taylor F, Keates AK. Heart Failure in Low-to-Middle Income Countries in Encyclopedia of Cardiovascular Research and Medicine Ed Vasan R & Sawyer D. pp 417-428. Elsevier Biomedical Sciences. 2018. ISBN: 978-0-12-805154-2

  • Journal articles and proceedings

    • Mocumbi AO, Saxena A, Sliwa K, Humbert M, Zhi-Cheng J, Thienemann F, Stewart S. Pulmonary Hypertension. Nature Reviews Disease Primers. 2024;10;1(1) 10.1038/s41572-023-00486-
    • Chen A, Waite L, Mocumbi AO, Chan YK, Beilby J, Ojji DB, Stewart S. Elevated blood pressure among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Global Health. 2023;11(8):e1238-e48.
    • Stewart S, Afoakwah C, Chan YK, Playford D, Strange GA. Counting the cost of premature mortality with progressively worse aortic stenosis in Australia: a clinical cohort study. The Lancet Healthy Longevity, 2022, 3(9), pp. e599–e606.
    • Stewart S, Playford D, ScaliPewa GM, Currie P, Celermajer DS, Prior D, Codde J, Strange G. Ejection fraction and mortality: a nationwide register-based cohort study of 499 153 women and men. European Journal of Heart Failure. 2021;23(3) 406-416.
    • Karaye K, Saidu H, Balarabe S, Ishaq N, Adama U, Mohammed I, Oboirien I, Umuerri E, Mankwe A, Shidali V, Njoku P, Dodiyi-Manuel S, Olunuga TO, Josephs V, Mbakwem A, Okolie H, Talle M, Isa M, Ogah O, Stewart S. Clinical profile and outcomes of Peripartum Cardiomyopathy in Nigeria: a prospective longitudinal study. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2020;20:2352-2364.

  • Conference papers

    Professor Stewart has contributed to over 500 conference presentations. In the past 5 years he presented/co-authored 8 prestigious late-breaking science reports at the world's most renowned caridiac conferences - presenting a combination of highly insightful surveillance studies and innovative trials to guide the clinical management of people living with heart disease.

  • Original creative works

    • Charting and Navigating the "Scylla and Charybdis" Conundrum of our Ageing Hearts - Heart Failure & Atrial Fibrillation.
    • Thesis for the Award of a Doctor of Medical Science (University of Notre Dame Australia, 2023).

  • In the media

    • Professor Stewart has led large national and international media stories around rural health, obesity, humour and heart disease, high blood pressure, indigenous health, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and the results of a series of over 10 health service trials to improve health outcomes in people living with heart disease.
    • Recently, his work on climate and health was featured in a major report in the Washington Post.

  • Professional affiliations

    • Fellow of the American Heart Assocation (FAHA)
    • Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC)
    • Fellow of the Heart Failure Assocation (FHFA)
    • Fellow of the Cardiac Soceity of Australia and New Zealand (non-financial)
    • Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (non-financial)

  • Community engagement

    • Professor Stewart's research is embedded within the community focusing on the needs of those affected by heart disease - this includes working in vulnerable communities in many parts of Africa, Central Australia and other remote/rural communities.
    • Currently, he is leading a large project across urban, rural and regional Australian communities.

  • Awards

    • AHA's Martha Hill New Investigator Award
    • CSANZ's Nursing Research Award
    • National Heart Foundation Ralph Reader Overseas Research Fellow
    • AHA's Katherine Lembright CV Nursing Career Award
    • Inaugural NHMRC Career Development Award/Senior NHMRC Fellowship
    • NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow

  • Other

    • Visiting Professor - University of Glasgow, Scotland UK
    • Visiting Professor - Cape Heart Institute/University of Cape Town, South Africa
    • Visiting Professor - Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Moazambique