Soundeffects news | Interview with Assoc Prof Stuart Moir

Assoc Prof Stuart Moir | CARDIAC | AUS

Clinical Cardiologist | Melbourne Heart Care

Associate Professor Stuart Moir is a Clinical Cardiologist and Non-invasive Imaging Specialist at Melbourne Heart Care with expertise in echocardiography (TTE, stress, TOE, contrast echocardiography), cardiac CT, and cardiac MRI. After completing his cardiology training and an echocardiography fellowship at MonashHeart in 2002, he undertook a PhD at the University of Queensland, focusing on contrast echocardiography in cardiac disease diagnosis and treatment. His research has been published in leading international journals, and he has presented at national and international conferences, earning recognition for his contributions to cardiac imaging.

Stuart has trained in cardiac CT in San Francisco and completed a cardiac MRI fellowship in London. He is currently the Lead Cardiologist for the cardiac MRI service at MonashHeart. At ASA2025, he will discuss the evolving role of sonographers in detecting heart failure, the future of cardiovascular disease prevention, and the impact of mentorship in cardiology. In this interview, he reflects on his journey in the field, his hopes for the future of cardiac imaging, and the legacy he aims to leave in patient care and education.

With advancements in echocardiography technology and imaging techniques, how has the role of sonographers evolved in the early detection and management of heart failure?

Sonographers have always played an integral role in the detection of cardiac dysfunction through echocardiography. Recent advances in imaging techniques like strain may enable detection of myocardial dysfunction at an earlier stage, which is clinically important, especially in patients who require routine surveillance imaging (e.g. valvular heart disease and chemotherapy).

Given the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular disease worldwide, what do you think are the most critical areas for improvement in both prevention and treatment?

In terms of prevention, I think obesity management in the Western world is crucial – and perhaps moving from classifying obesity based on BMI to waist circumference will be important because central adiposity is more metabolically active and, therefore, likely more involved in the development of CVD compared to peripheral adiposity.

Following on from this, therapies to treat obesity are already showing promise as agents to reduce the risk of CV disease.

What inspired you to pursue cardiology, and how has your passion for the field evolved over the years?

Even in my early years of medical school, I was always fascinated with the heart. Later, when working as a cardiology resident, I was truly inspired to do cardiology by the teaching I received from a senior cardiologist called John BoxalI, whom I worked with closely. I also loved the mix of work in cardiology, with some of the week spent consulting with patients and some of the week spent doing something else (procedures or reporting investigations). Once I started cardiology training, it was the enthusiastic teaching of another John (Gelman) who inspired me to pursue cardiac imaging as a subspeciality.

What do you hope your legacy in cardiology will be, both in terms of patient care and contributions to the field?

I’m not sure about a legacy. I hope my patients will remember me as interested, empathic and mostly accurate when it came to evaluating and treating their clinical problems. In terms of contributions to the field, I’m not really sure. My journey as a cardiologist was triggered by the passionate teaching I received when I was a junior doctor, and I strive to emulate my mentors. I hope that someone out there may have chosen to pursue cardiology or imaging as their speciality because of my own teaching. I guess that would be a contribution to the field.

Explore Assoc Prof Stuart Moir’s ASA2025 Program

SESSION | PRESENTATION

FRI 12:30 – 2:20pm | Features of advanced heart failure on echocardiography

SAT 1:45 – 3:05pm | An echocardiographic evaluation in a patient with acute chest pain

SAT 1:45 – 3:05pm | Live scanning: Important windows in stress echocardiography

SUN 11:30am – 12:50pm | Lessons learnt about echocardiography from CT and MRI