Julie Redfern

Julie Redfern

Australia

Statement of motivation

I am honoured to be a nominee for Member at Large of the Board of the World Heart Federation. My personal leadership purpose is to “thrive by inspiring others.”

I am a Professor of Public Health, allied health clinician (physiotherapist) and a researcher in Queensland, Australia. After completing clinical training, I took on a role as a Physiotherapist in Cardiology at a public hospital in Sydney. This was transformative. For the 20 years since, I have pursed a career aimed at improving cardiovascular health for people and populations with a focus on equity, innovation and system efficiency.

Specifically, I have focused on optimising patient-centred prevention and health systems reform. I have been fortunate to be awarded consecutive scholarships/fellowships and grant funding from the Heart Foundation of Australia and National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia’s major government research funding agency). I have published over 260 papers, led more than 20 projects and trained and mentored hundreds of clinician-researchers.

I feel a connection to the World Heart Federation and am dedicated to the vision – ‘cardiovascular health for everyone.’ In 2015, I was selected as a World Heart Federation Emerging Leader and travelled to Peru. I loved the diversity and opportunity that global unity brings. After that, I supported several World Congresses, was part of the Digital Health Roadmap Writing Group and am a member of the Science Committee. In 2023, I led the Emerging Leaders Program in Sydney. This was a huge success. I loved being able to give back, share learnings and support new leaders. I was also recently a member of the International Scientific Committee for the OCC-WCC.24, Shanghai.

I have a passion for leadership, strategy and capacity building. I have all the necessary skills, attributes and experience to make a valuable contribution to the World Heart Federation Board. I have completed formal leadership (Oxford University) and ‘Board’ training (Australian Institute for Company Directors). For the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, I am a previous Board Member (6-year term), Chair of the Prevention Council, member of the Science Committee and Education Trust Board. I have won numerous awards for my leadership including the NSW Woman of Excellence Award (awarded from over 4 million women), National Health and Medical Research Council Excellence Award, Sydney University Vice-Chancellor’s Award and Australian Clinical Trial Alliance for the consumer involvement.

In my spare time, I am a volunteer surf-lifesaver and Board member in my community-based surf lifesaving club. As lifesavers, we volunteer to keep Australian beaches safe for locals and tourists, prevent drownings and provide first aid. For this work, I won the 2022 NSW Surf Life Saving Volunteer of the Year award (from over 20,000 volunteers).

Hand over ‘heart,’ I guarantee that if elected, I will dedicate my time and energy to improving ‘cardiovascular health for everyone’. I would be honoured to serve and represent the World Heart Federation by being hard-working, collegial, professional, inclusive and empathetic.

Thank you for considering me as one of your Member at Large representatives.