David Playford

David Playford is a Professor of Cardiology at the School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame Australia in Fremantle, and holds a concurrent Professorial position at the Mount Hospital in Perth. He combines clinical practice with academic leadership, industry involvement, and policy advisory roles. His professional roles include founding and managing private cardiology, sleep disorders, and vascular practices, alongside serving on national health boards and advising the WA Health Department.

Education: MBBS from the University of Western Australia, PhD in vascular function and diabetes (UWA), and a fellowship in echocardiography from Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

Research focuses on pulmonary hypertension, echocardiography, and cardiovascular disease mechanisms. He leads the National Echo Database Australia (NEDA)—the world’s largest echocardiography database (900,000+ records)—enabling large-scale heart disease research. His work has produced over 36 peer-reviewed publications and involves mentoring Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students.

• Recipient of the Vice Chancellor’s award for founding the cardiovascular living anatomy program, recognized for innovative teaching.

Grants and advisory roles include WA Health Department collaborations and national board engagements. His research infrastructure (NEDA) supports interdisciplinary projects addressing heart disease outcomes.

Labs/Teams: Oversees cardiovascular research teams leveraging NEDA data and coordinates HDR student supervision.