Professor Donna Fitzsimons OBE, RN, PhD, FESC, FICS (Hon)

Donna Fitzsimons is a Professor of Nursing in the School of Nursing at Queen’s University Belfast, where she was previously Head of School (2016 – 2024). Her career demonstrates a commitment to improving the quality of patient experience and outcomes through education and research. Donna is an experienced clinical academic who has previously enjoyed a long-standing joint appointment with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. She received an OBE for services to healthcare and education in 2024, with a Royal College of Nursing Outstanding Leadership award and a Distinguished Service Award from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in the same year. She was also one of the first nurses in its history to be awarded a Fellowship of the Irish Cardiac Society.

Donna has strong international links, leading both the Advocacy Committee and the establishment of the Patient Forum within the Board of the European Society of Cardiology . She is a founding member of the Global Cardiovascular Nursing Leadership Forum and holds an Editorial Board position on several international journals including the Journal of the American Medical Association - Cardiology and the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. Donna has a history of successful research grant acquisition, is widely published and is regularly invited to present at international congresses. Her recent research grants include a Horizon & Institute for Health Innovation award for Cities@Heart (£450 K) to work across the WHO Health Cities network developing interventions that tackle cardiovascular risk more effectively and a British Heart Foundation Innovation award (£298K) for HELP, a study to evaluate a co-designed digital resource for patients with heart failure across three sites in the UK.

She has made a significant contribution to the development of several international Clinical Practice Guidelines and is a strong advocate of evidence informed care and patient involvement. At a national level she is Co-Clinical Lead for the Cardiovascular Clinical Research Network, and is an active member of The British Heart Foundation and NI HSC R&D panels. She leads the Patient and Public Involvement strand of the iREACH project within the Belfast Region City Deal. Currently her team’s research focus includes the co-production of innovations within cardiovascular prevention and heart failure care.

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