Niamh Chapman

Dr Niamh Chapman's Fellowship wants to understand how to engage and empower patients and communities to tackle high blood pressure. Why?

• High blood pressure is the leading cause of avoidable disability and early death in Australia and worldwide.
• There are no symptoms – 50% of people with high blood pressure don’t know they have it.
• Although there are many affordable treatment options available to lower blood pressure, very few people on treatment are managed effectively to lower their risk of heart attack, stroke, dementia or kidney disease.
• Education improves blood pressure management.

Regular monitoring and reporting to healthcare providers are key to effective blood pressure management. Appropriate education is required to provide people with the knowledge and skills necessary to measure their blood pressure and engage in management. Despite this need, there is a lack of appropriate resources to deliver education in practice.

Niamh has created the ‘BP Toolkit’ an evidence-based education package to support people to manage their blood pressure. As a Churchill Fellow, Niamh will visit England, the United States, and Chile to learn from world-leading approaches to blood pressure management. Niamh has also visited Canada and Mexico ahead of her Fellowship with support from the Cardiovascular Research Network of New South Wales.

Dr Niamh Chapman is a Senior Research Fellow and leads the Health Equity and Hypertension Research Group at the University of Sydney. Niamh holds national and international leadership positions as co-lead of Patient Engagement and Activation of the Australian Hypertension Taskforce and initiative lead of ‘Guideline for Patients’ for the International Society of Hypertension. Niamh moved to Tasmania in 2016 to complete her PhD at the Menzies Institute, University of Tasmania where she worked until May 2023. Niamh has a passion for community engagement, education and communication, recognised as the 2021 ‘STEM Communicator of the Year’ at the Tasmanian STEM excellence awards. During her time in Tasmania, she founded ‘That’s What I Call Science’ on Edge Radio, which is now aired nationwide and received national recognition as a finalist in the Eureka Awards for STEM Inclusion.