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Contact Details

Phone
+64 21 306 509
Email
gillian.whalley@otago.ac.nz
Position
Professor of Clinical Sonography / Cardiology
Department
Department of Medicine (Dunedin)
Qualifications
BAppSci MHSc(Hons) DMU PhD
Research summary
Cardiovascular disease
Teaching
ELM3 Early Professional Experience, Sonography
Clinical
Clinical echocardiography

Research

I am interested in the appropriate use of echocardiography to identify factors that may contribute to higher risk in patients and in at-risk populations. A key future focus will be community-based screening using ultrasound to identify individuals at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease in order to introduce preventative methods early.

I have a long-term interest in the relationship between body composition and heart size and the impact of ethnicity upon that. I have recently completed an HRC-funded study evaluating heart size in Aotearoa/New Zealand, with a particular emphasis on determining what reference ranges should be applied in here.

I have experience of small single-centre and large multi-centre clinical trials, cohort studies, and prognostic studies, and have used meta-analytical methods widely. My interest in meta-analysis (both literature and individual patient approaches) extends towards linking echocardiography measurements with improved clinical correlation and prognosis in large population studies.

Publications

Vlietstra, L., Fordyce, A., Costa, E. C., Coffey, S., Walker, X. J., Whalley, G. A., & Waters, D. L. (2025). Exercise interventions to improve physical frailty and physical frailty components in older adults with hypertension: A systematic review. Ageing Research Reviews, 107, 102714. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2025.102714 Journal - Research Other

Moore, M. K., Jones, G. T., Whalley, G., Williams, M. J. A., Stewart, R. A., & Coffey, S. (2025). The prevalence of aortic stenosis in Maōri undergoing clinically indicated echocardiography compared to New Zealand Europeans. New Zealand Medical Journal/Te ara tika o te hauora hapori, 138(1608), 84-93. Retrieved from https://www.nzmj.org.nz/ Journal - Research Article

Williamson, J., McLeod, A., Marangou, J., Remenyi, B., Morris, P., & Whalley, G. (2025). Application of the 2023 World Heart Federation guidelines for the echocardiographic diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease. Australasian Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, 28(1), e12421. doi: 10.1002/ajum.12421 Journal - Research Other

Beck, S., Whalley, G., Coffey, S., Hawley, A., & Anakin, M. (2025). Cardiac ultrasound training for medical students utilizing drawing and ward-based instruction. MedEdPortal, 21, 11485. doi: 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11485 Journal - Research Article

Whalley, G. (2024). Anatomy: The foundation of ultrasound imaging. Australasian Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, 27(4), 199. doi: 10.1002/ajum.12416 Journal - Research Other

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