Professor Andrew Justin Stewart Coats is a preeminent Australian-British academic cardiologist currently serving as Scientific Director and CEO of the Heart Research Institute in Sydney, Australia. Born in Melbourne on February 1, 1958, he received his foundational education at Melbourne Grammar School before pursuing higher studies at St Catherine's College, Oxford, where he graduated with First-Class Honours in Physiological Sciences, and later at Clare College, Cambridge, where he completed his medical degree. Throughout his distinguished career spanning over four decades, Professor Coats has held numerous prestigious appointments including Professor of Cardiology at the University of Warwick, Head of Cardiology at Imperial College London, and Associate Medical Director at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals in London. His leadership extends across continents, having served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Medicine at the University of Sydney and Director of the Monash-Warwick Alliance from 2012 to 2017.
Professor Coats is internationally renowned for pioneering the muscle hypothesis of chronic heart failure, which fundamentally transformed the understanding of dyspnea and ventilatory responses in heart failure patients, challenging conventional wisdom by demonstrating the efficacy of exercise training over traditional bed rest for chronic heart failure management. His groundbreaking research has yielded over 750 peer-reviewed publications, 20 patents, and an impressive 120,000+ career citations, reflecting a remarkable H-index of 146 that underscores his substantial scholarly impact. Among his most significant recent contributions is the STRONG-HF study, a pragmatic multinational trial establishing the safety, tolerability and efficacy of rapid up-titration of guideline-directed medical therapies for acute heart failure, published in The Lancet in 2022. His innovative work has directly translated into clinical practice, with his Imperial College patents forming the foundation of specialized companies like Myotec and PsiOxus that target cachexia treatment, demonstrating his unique ability to bridge basic science with tangible therapeutic applications.
As Immediate Past-President of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology, having served as President from 2020-2022 after being elected to the Presidential Trio in 2018, Professor Coats has significantly shaped the global agenda for heart failure research and treatment standards. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Cardiac Failure Review journal, providing critical leadership in disseminating cutting-edge research to the international medical community while continuing to advance his own investigations into cardiovascular disorders at the Heart Research Institute. His work addressing the growing epidemic of heart failure, particularly in aging populations, emphasizes the necessity of multidisciplinary approaches involving physicians, nurses, pharmacists and dietitians to manage the increasing burden of patients with complex comorbidities. Looking forward, Professor Coats remains dedicated to optimizing heart failure management through technological innovation and evidence-based approaches, with his ongoing research poised to further transform clinical practice and improve outcomes for millions affected by this increasingly prevalent condition worldwide.
