National Centre for Sport Cardiology
The National Centre for Sports Cardiology (NCSC) is a centre of excellence that specialises in an athlete’s most important tool - their heart. The joint initiative combines the research and medical expertise of Baker Institute, St Vincent’s Hospital, and St Vincent’s Institute to provide the best medical care for athletes.
The NCSC utilises the specialist knowledge of leading heart specialists, Associate Professor David Prior, Dr. Maria Brosnan and Associate Professor André La Gerche, as well as state-of-the-art assessment tools.
“We realised that between Maria and I, who were doing PhDs and extensive research, and David, who was supervising us, that we had expertise that was quite unique in Australia, and in some ways unique around the world. Putting that together, we felt that we could provide benefits to the wider community with the National Centre for Sports Cardiology.” – Dr. André La Gerche.
Endurance athletes undergo a significant amount of training and the heart adapts in unique ways. Our understanding of the impact of intense sport on the heart is still evolving.
The NCSC has three focuses;
Research the effect of exercise on the heart
Evaluate concerns or heart abnormalities of athletes and provide experienced specialised treatment
Educate the population on how exercise affects the heart
Sports Cardiologists
Professor André La Gerche
Andre is a cardiologist specialising in cardiac imaging, a Future Leadership Fellow of the National Heart Foundation and a NHMRC Career Development Fellow. He completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne and 4 years of postdoctoral research studying the effect of endurance exercise on the heart at the University Hospital of Leuven, Belgium, where he is a Visiting Professor.
Professor David Prior
David is Director of Non-invasive Cardiac Imaging at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne and Head of the Cardiology & Heart Failure Outpatient Clinics. In addition he is an Associate Professor with the University of Melbourne and a Clinical Research Fellow at the St Vincent’s Institute.
Dr. Maria Brosnan
Dr Maria Brosnan is a sports cardiologist with a research and clinical interest in arrhythmias and inherited heart disease. Maria is the ‘go to’ cardiologist for many of Australia’s top athletes. She serves as a consultant for Tennis Australia, The AFL draft, Rowing Australia and several professional cycling teams.