Academic Director, Westmead Applied Research Centre (WARC), Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, and Clinical Lead, Community-Based Cardiac Services, Westmead Hospital, NSW.

Professor Clara Chow AM has a strong academic research track record that bridges clinical practice, implementation science, digital health innovation, large-scale global research collaborations and over a decade of health system leadership experience.

Professor Chow (PhD, MBBS, FRACP, GAICD) is Academic Director of the Westmead Applied Research Centre (WARC) and Clinical Lead of Community-Based Cardiac Services at Westmead Hospital. She is a current NHMRC Leadership Fellow (L3 Investigator – ‘Innovation to impact in cardiovascular disease prevention and healthcare, 2026-2030’).
She is known nationally and internationally for healthcare innovation. She has a strong track record of health system leadership, including being a current Board Member of the Western Sydney Local Health District and National Heart Foundation, and previously as the first female President of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ, 2020) and the inaugural Director of the Australian Stroke and Heart Research Accelerator (ASHRA, 2022). Prof. Chow has >400 publications, including recent papers in top-tier journals NEJM (5), Lancet (8) and JAMA (10). Prof. Chow’s digital health (DH) research program has been a leader and innovator in the field, with digital products created through the program reaching ~200,000 individuals.

Her DH research has been cited by prominent international bodies such as The Lancet Commission on Hypertension, the World Bank and the US National Academy of Sciences; guidelines in Europe, Australia and the U.S.; and has inspired cross-disciplinary applications of DH, e.g. cancer, dermatology, musculoskeletal health, oral health and renal disease.