Dr Jessica Orchard

Dr Jessica Orchard is Head of the Sports Cardiology Laboratory and a Heart Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centenary Institute and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the School of Public Health, University of Sydney. She is also an Associate Editor at the British Journal of Sports Medicine and a Cardiac Research Fellow at Cricket Australia. Jessica’s PhD was awarded without emendation in November 2020 for which she was awarded the Peter Bancroft Prize.

She also has a Master of Public Health (with Merit), and Bachelor of Economics / Bachelor of Laws (Hons I) all from the University of Sydney. Jessica became a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) in 2019.

Jessica’s research aims to improve the quality of cardiac screening programs to prevent sudden cardiac death (SCD) and catastrophic disability from stroke. Her focus is on two distinct programs: (1) screening athletes for conditions associated with SCD; and (2) screening people aged ≥65 years for unknown atrial fibrillation which, if untreated, can lead to fatal or disabling stroke. She is also interested in the use of novel eHealth tools and how the law can be used in prevention strategies to achieve public health aims.