Graham Hillis is Head of the Department of Cardiology at Royal Perth Hospital, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Western Australia, Adjunct Professor at Curtin University and Professorial Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health. From 2017 to 2020 he was also Director of Research for WA Health East Metropolitan Health Service.

He graduated in medicine from the University of Aberdeen and remained there for his basic medical training and to complete a PhD. He subsequently trained in cardiology in Edinburgh and the USA, including a 1 year British Heart Foundation fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester. From 2002 to 2008 he was Senior Lecturer in Cardiology at the University of Aberdeen and Consultant Cardiologist at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He moved to Sydney in 2008, working clinically as a cardiologist at Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Strathfield Private Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Medical Centre and continuing his research at the George Institute for Global Health, where from 2010 to 2015 he was Director of the Cardiovascular Division.

In addition to over 25 years of clinical cardiology experience, he has considerable expertise in the design, conduct and reporting of high quality clinical trials in cardiovascular medicine. He is current Chair of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Committee and previously a member of their Professional and Ethical Standards Committee. In addition, he sits on the Executive of the Australian and New Zealand Alliance for Cardiovascular Trials network and serves on the steering committees of several major national and international trials and on the end-point adjudication and data and safety monitoring committees of several others. In particular, he is the international co-PI of the The Early valve replacement in severe ASYmptomatic aortic stenosis (EASY AS) trial, co-funded by the MRFF, British Heart Foundation and New Zealand Heart Foundation and CI on many other grants, including from the NHMRC, Heart Foundation, UK National Institute for Health & Care Research and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (totalling over $35 million in the past 5 years). He has over 250 career publications, including many in leading general and speciality journals, holds a current WA Health Research Excellence award and has twice been awarded the National Heart Foundation Ross Hohnen Prize for Research Excellence (in 2014 and 2018).

Grants not administered by UWA

WA Future Health Research and Innovation Fund and Royal Perth Research Foundation Research Impact and Innovation Grant. Machine learning to predict death and myocardial injury and improve outcomes after major non-cardiac surgery. Hillis G, Sohel F, Nolde J, Schlaich M, Bowles T, Sanfilippo F, Lloyd A, Horgan B. 2024 – 2027. $1,179,424.

UK NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme. A Randomised Controlled Trial of Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibition for Reduction of Cardiovascular Events after Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (EVEREST; 2024/NIHR157523) Dawson D, Newby D, Norrie J, Gale C, McCann G, MacLennan G, Hillis G, Horowitz J, Scotland G, Petrie M. 2025 – 2031. £2,701,886.

MRFF Cardiovascular Mission. CARDIOvascular support for patients after discharge: CardioCHARGE. Chow C, Chew D, Hillis G, Luscombe G, Jan S, Cass A, Shaw T, Verjans J, Laranjo L, Makeham M, Godinho M, Sarkies M, Marschner S, Kangaharan N. 2024 – 2028. $2,995,586.

MRFF High-Cost Gene Treatments and Digital Health Interventions. Remote MOnitoring deTEcting CArdiac issues Rapidly to Enable care – REMOTE CARE. Chow C, Shaw T, Hillis G, Qian P, Hawke C, Chew D, Thiagalingham A, Laranjo L, Jan S, Marangou J, Sheahen B, Marschner S, Sivagangabalan G, Kumar S. 2023 – 2027. $1,295,376.

MRFF Cardiovascular Health Mission. Clinical and health economics implications of routine CTCA for emergency department assessment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at risk of acute coronary syndrome. Cullen L, Cramb S, Mahoney R, McCreanor V, Hillis G, Ihdayhid A, Goodman A, Parsonage W, Chew D, McKivett A, Tyack Z, Greenslade J, Figtree G, Stephensen L, Starmer G. 2023-2027. $1,488,718.

MRFF Cardiovascular Health Mission. Towards Remote Patient Monitoring of Heart Failure Using Event-Driven AI Systems. Dwivedi G, Ihdayhid AR, Hillis G, Patel S, Bennamoun M, Kavehei O, Boussaid F, Eshraghian J, Figtree G. 2022-2025. $583,551.

MRFF Cardiovascular Health Mission. Use of Artificial Intelligence-Guided Echocardiography to Guide Cardiovascular Management in Rural and Remote Australia. Marwick T, Hillis G, Costello B, Wright L, Huynh Q, Wahi S, Yu C, Baumann A, Negishi K, Scuffham P. 2022-2025. $999,996.

Heart Foundation Strategic Grant. Scale-up of the Australian Fans in Training (Aussie-FIT) men’s health behaviour change program: a randomised controlled hybrid implementation trial. Quested E, Maiorana A, Smith J, Pavey T, Hillis G, McCaffrey T. 2022-2025. $1,000,000.

MRFF International Clinical Trial Collaborations Grant. Anticoagulation for Stroke Prevention In patients with Recent Episodes of perioperative Atrial Fibrillation after noncardiac surgery: The ASPIRE-AF trial. Chow C, Hillis G, Brieger D, Sverdlov A, Atherton J, Thomas L, Lindley R, Ferguson C, Devereaux PJ, Conen D. 2022-2027. $1,816,175.

Heart Foundation Vanguard Grant. Prevention of Aortic Stenosis progression Phylloquinone Ossification Reduction Trial (PASSPORT) Schultz C, Hillis G, Hodgson J, Bellinge J. 2022-2024. $150,000.

Heart Foundation Strategic Grant. Secondary Prevention for All in Need (SPAN) after Type 1 myocardial infarction: a comparative effectiveness randomised trial. Briffa T, Redfern J, Chew D, Atherton D, Hillis G, Nicholls S, Brieger D, Rankin J, Maiorana A. 2021-2024. $999,034.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research. VISION Cardiac Surgery ECG substudy. Whitlock R, Belley-Cote E, Allard R, Chan M, Choi S, Devereaux P, Fominskiy E, Fremes S, Hillis G, Kessler Borges F, Lamy A, Landoni G, Lomivorotov V, McGillion M, Monaco F, Paparella D, Spence J, Wang C. 2020-2022. C$534,839.

British Heart Foundation Project Grant. The Early surgery in severe ASYmptomatic Aortic Stenosis (EASY AS) trial. McCann G, Newby D, Akowuah E, Dweck M, Norrie J, Murphy G, Hillis G, Myles P, Lord J, Brookes C, Prendergast B. 2019-2029. £2,722,054.

NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grant. COLchicine CARDIovascular Outcomes in Acute Coronary Syndrome (COLCARDIO-ACS) Study. Keech A, Patel S, Hillis G, Nicholls S, Thompson P, Newby D, Simes J, Morton R, Gebski V, Psaltis P. APP1187193. 2020-2025. $4,238,895.

Heart Foundation Vanguard Grant. Harnessing the appeal of professional sport to improve health for men with cardiovascular disease. Quested E, Ntoumanis N, Maiorana A, Hillis G. 2020-2022. $149,503.

The West Australian Health Translational Network / Medical Research Future Fund Rapid Applied Research Translation Grant. Community based education and exercise training in heart failure. Hillis G, Maiorana A, Green D, Naylor L, Reid C. 2019-2021. $250,000.

The West Australian Health Translational Network / Medical Research Future Fund Rapid Applied Research Translation Grant. Primary Care Adherence To Heart Failure guidelines IN Diagnosis, Evaluation & Routine management (PATHFINDER) Study. Maiorana A, Rankin J, Dembo L, Hillis G, Reid C, Robinson S, Ferrante A, Thompson S. 2019-2021. $250,000.

Heart Foundation Vanguard Grant. Winnall C, Hillis GS, MacDonald S, Fatovich S. The UtiLitY of cardiac myosin binding protein C in the Early triage of low risk patients with Suspected acute coronary syndromes (ULYCES) study. 2019-2020. $75,000.

Medical Research Foundation, Royal Perth Hospital. Lee SC, Schultz C, Green D, Schlaich M, Hillis G. The effects of physical activity on the rate of progression of coronary artery calcification, plaque morphology and vascular dysfunction in diabetic patients without prior cardiovascular events. 2019-2020. $20,000.

Medical Research Foundation, Royal Perth Hospital. Yau H-W, Hillis GS, Green D, Schultz C. An echocardiographic study comparing the effects of eccentric training to conventional (concentric) training in patients with heart failure. 2019-2020. $20,000.

Western Australia Department of Health Research Translation Project. Rajwani A, Hillis GS, Schultz C, Stoyanov N, Geelhoed E, Schlaich M. The incremental utility of a devolved cardiac valvular and aortic disease clinic. 2018-2020. $138,950.

Western Australia Department of Health Research Translation Project. Schultz C, Hillis GS, Briffa T, Reid C, Sanfilippo F, Li I. The West Australian Cardiac Outcomes Registry. 2018-2020. $243,000.

Medical Research Foundation, Royal Perth Hospital. Winnall C, Hillis G, Spiro J, Alcock R, Fatovich D, MacDonald S. The UtiLitY of cardiac myosin binding protein C in the Early triage of low risk patients with Suspected acute coronary syndromes (ULYCES) study. 2018-2019. $20,000.

Medical Research Foundation, Royal Perth Hospital. Chetty R, Hillis G, Rajwani A, Schlaich M, Schultz C, Reid C. The Quadruple UltrA-low-dose tReaTment for hypErTension (QUARTET) trial imaging sub-study. 2018-2019. $20,000.

NHMRC Project Grant. Briffa T, Cullen L, Chew D, Knuiman M, Fatovich D, Hickman P, Parsonage W, Nedkoff L, Sanfilippo F, Hillis GS. Is highly-sensitive troponin testing advancing clinical practice, improving outcomes and cost-effective in the investigation and management of chest pain in the Emergency Department? APP1122792. 2017-2020. $1,197,000.

Western Australia Department of Health Research Translation Project. Hillis GS, Alcock R, Spiro J, Fatovich D, MacDonald S, Schultz C, Briffa T, Geelhoed E. The Single Troponin Accelerated Triage of low risk Chest Pain (STAT Chest Pain) study. 2017-2019. $242,858.

NHMRC Project Grant. Chow C, Rodgers A, Hillis G, Schlaich M, Usherwood T, Webster R, Billot L. Quadruple UltrA-low-dose tReamenT for hypErTension (QUARTET) trial. APP1100377. 2016-2019. $1,242,865

Western Australia State Health Research Advisory Council Research Translation Grant. Spiro J, Hillis G, Schultz C, Geelhoed E. Impact of Rapid Access to cardiology Determined multi-modality testing among Individuals presenting with new onset Chest pain: improving quality, efficiency and cost effectiveness at Royal Perth HospitAL: The RADICAL project. 2016-2019. $270,000.