After more than two decades as a researcher and cardiologist working in coronary intervention and cardiac imaging, Professor John Greenwood has seen first-hand what happens when research and technology deliver new options for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.
Watching my mum survive a heart attack at 35 was a turning point I'll never forget. It drove me into cardiovascular medicine — not just as a career, but as a calling. For every person like her, I want to make a real difference
That desire to deliver impact is what led him to move his family across the world in 2024 from the United Kingdom to Australia. It’s also what drives him today as Director of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute.
Prior to joining the Institute in Melbourne, Prof Greenwood was Director of the Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, and President of the British Cardiovascular Society.
But a few years ago, he swapped the historic county of Yorkshire for Victoria’s Bayside suburbs.
Prof Greenwood joined the Baker Institute at a pivotal moment. Leading into our centenary year in 2026, he put in place a bold, five-year strategy to tackle the world’s biggest health challenges; heart attack, heart failure, diabetes and obesity.
Our ambition: To transform the lives of everyday Australians.
“Right now in our laboratories, our teams are working on a completely implantable artificial heart; a cure for type 1 diabetes and mRNA vaccines designed to protect the heart from a heart attack. These are not incremental steps. They are transformational moonshots,” he says.
He says this is a whole-of-Institute journey. Our researchers, our clinicians, our professional services staff — we dare to imagine what’s possible and are resolved to making that a reality.
“If the past century was about understanding and treating disease,
the next will be about rewriting destiny, predicting and then preventing, heart disease and diabetes from occurring,” he says.
To read about Professor Greenwood's research background, publications and academic appointments, visit his full research biography