Meet the 2026 Cardiometabolic Fellowship winner!
Dr Nelson Wang
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant/VAD Fellow, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, US
Honorary Senior Research Fellow, The George institute for Global Health, NSW
Winning submission
Empirical Prescribing Pathway for Heart Failure and Chronic Kidney Disease
“This project aims to evaluate the implementation of two tools for supporting guideline directed medical therapy in hypertension and heart failure through empirical prescribing in a hospital setting. These tools provide estimates of combination therapy on efficacy and safety parameters and this study will determine whether this empirical prescribing pathway is acceptable, appropriate, feasible and ultimately adopted with adequate fidelity”
Cardiometabolic disease remains one of the most significant challenges facing healthcare systems globally. Whilst cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs)—including type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular, kidney, liver, and metabolic syndrome are recognised as seldom occurring in isolation, integrating medical care faces multiple clinical, system, organizational, economic, and patient-level challenges1.
Scientific discovery continues to advance rapidly alongside their practical application and inclusion in guidelines. However, gaps remain between research findings and their implementation in real‑world settings, with limited trials designed to test integrated care models, and few studies on implementation strategies that scale collaborative CMD care across diverse health systems.1
The Cardiometabolic Research Fellowship (Fellowship) was established to bridge this gap by identifying strategies to support the adoption of evidence-based research into coordinated clinical care.
The Cardiometabolic Summit, sponsored by Novo Nordisk and now in its 3rd year, was developed by an independent Steering Committee to tackle the barriers between medical disciplines in managing complex, co-morbid cardiometabolic diseases, by providing cross-disciplinary education, and provide a platform to debate, discuss, and build advocacy for integrated care with a real desire to drive systems-level change.
The Steering Committee, with Novo Nordisk, recognised the need to ensure lasting change beyond the summit; to facilitate the translation of discussion into practical application and establish a feedback loop whereby insights gained from real-world practice are fed back to the summit participants and into ongoing research. This approach ensures that research is not only informed by clinical realities but also continuously refined, allowing for the development of more effective, scalable solutions that directly address the challenges faced in everyday healthcare settings in Australia and New Zealand.
The Fellowship is designed to support clinicians undertaking high‑impact, translational (T4) Implementation focused research that addresses unmet needs in cardiometabolic healthcare, by identifying barriers and developing strategies for integrating evidence-based research into coordinated clinical care.
The Fellowship provides funding, visibility, and a platform for emerging leaders to deliver work with tangible clinical or system‑level impact. This Fellowship will also encourage leadership, mentorship and collaboration across cardiometabolic disciplines and inspire the next generation of clinicians to pursue diverse pathways to excellence in research and clinical practice.
The successful Fellow will receive:
- $AUD 100,000 to support the approved project
- Recognition through Fellowship communications and events
- An opportunity to present their work and outcomes at a relevant cardiometabolic forum or meeting.
Full details regarding funding arrangements, reporting requirements, and Fellowship conditions are outlined in the Terms and Conditions.