Professor Alta Schutte, Co-Director of the Global Cardiovascular Program at The George Institute for Global Health and UNSW Sydney, has been named a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS), for her outstanding contributions to cardiovascular research, global leadership in hypertension, and enduring impact on health policy.
Election to the AAHMS Fellowship is one of Australia's highest honours in health and medical science, recognising exceptional achievement and sustained contributions across research, leadership, mentorship, and public engagement.
"Our new Fellows are improving lives - from tackling global health challenges and pioneering new treatments, to shaping policy and advancing the frontiers of biomedical discovery.
Their work exemplifies the Academy's mission to advance health and medical research, promote evidence-informed policy, and foster trust in science.
By:Professor Louise Baur AM PresAHMS
Academy President
In Australia, Professor Schutte serves as Co-Chair of the National Hypertension Taskforce, a multi-sectoral initiative she helped establish with many others to address the country's alarmingly low blood pressure control rates.
Under her co-leadership, the Taskforce developed a Roadmap to reduce Australia's heart disease and stroke risk by increasing Australia's rates of blood pressure control from 32 per cent to 70 per cent by 2030.
She is also the senior author of the 2020 International Society of Hypertension Global Hypertension Guidelines and has helped shape international policy through key roles with the World Health Organisation, the Global Burden of Disease Study, and the Lancet Commission on Hypertension.
Professor Schutte has published more than 550 scientific papers, led major international consortia, and supervised over 85 postgraduate students. Her work has earned numerous international accolades, including the 2022 Harriet Dustan Award from the American Heart Association, the 2023 Peter Sleight Excellence Award from the World Hypertension League, and the 2024 NHMRC Fiona Stanley Synergy Grant Award.
As an AAHMS Fellow, Professor Schutte joins the ranks of Australia's most influential health and medical scientists and will continue to play a vital role in shaping the future of cardiovascular health in Australia and worldwide.
"It's an honour to be elected a Fellow of the AAHMS, and I'm grateful to be recognised alongside many accomplished peers in medical science in Australia. I'm grateful too for the support of many other dedicated colleagues and collaborating organisations who have helped me along the way.
While we've made real progress in improving awareness and treatment of uncontrolled hypertension in the past two decades, it remains one of the most significant and preventable risk factors for death and disease worldwide and I'm confident we can do much more to address it, particularly in places with little access to medicines, a travesty when the treatments we have are so effective and so affordable.
The Fellowship will provide me with an additional avenue to collaborate with both Australian and international counterparts, and I look forward to making even bigger strides in future.
By:Professor Alta Schutte
Co-Director - Global Cardiovascular Program, The George Institute for Global Health, SHARP Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, UNSW Sydney
