Dr David O’Donnell is the Chief Executive Officer of Advara HeartCare, Sleep & Respiratory and is a Cardiologist with a clinical focus in Electrophysiology at our centre in Heidelberg, Victoria.
Prior to this, he was the Executive Manager of Cardiology, Sleep & Respiratory at GenesisCare, leading them to become the largest standalone cardiology provider in Australia after moving away from the GenesisCare network in October 2022. He was also a previous Member of the Board of Directors for GenesisCare and Chairman of the Clinical Management Committee (CMC) for GenesisCare Cardiology Victoria.
Dr O’Donnell graduated from University of Melbourne Medical School in 1993, before going on to complete his initial training at the Austin Hospital, Heidelberg. Following his tenure in Melbourne, he went on to complete his Advanced Training in Electrophysiology at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, United Kingdom.
Throughout 1992 and 1993, Dr O’Donnell received several undergraduate awards including the Association of Medical Officers of Health Prize for the top medical student, the HG Furnell Award for the most outstanding medical student, and the Senior Medical Staff Award for the top student of that year. In the UK in 2002, he was also awarded the NASPE Fellow Clinical Research Award, the Eric and Bonnie Prystowsky Clinical Research Award and was a finalist in the NASPE Young Investigators Award.
Dr O’Donnell has a long standing clinical interest in arrhythmias, especially focused in atrial fibrillation, with a specific interest in athletes with atrial fibrillation. (World Cup soccer players, Olympic medallists, AFL / WAFL players and Grand Tour Cyclists)
In recent years, his clinical and research focus has been on pioneering the newest techniques for Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy (CRT) devices in heart failure patients.
As an active educator, Dr O’Donnell runs several device implant courses, training Australian and international physicians in a range of therapeutic areas, particularly CRT. He has also presented at many international electrophysiology congresses.