The national Cardiovascular Health Leadership Research Forum: a new data-driven model placing research at the centre of improving patient outcomes

The Australian health system is recognised as one of the best globally. However, the burden of chronic disease, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), remains high and the associated health care sector spend in Australia is rapidly expanding. In 2022–2023, Commonwealth expenditure was estimated at $132 billion, representing 16.8% of the total budget.1 Over $14 billion is spent on the direct health costs of CVD per annum.2 Developing new models to harness immense research resources available to tackle our nation's key health challenges has the potential to accelerate implementation and drive new preventive and therapeutic strategies and foster a vibrant medical technology ecosystem, thereby, positively affecting patient and economic outcomes.