Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan

Who Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan is

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan is Clinical Director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and an honorary consultant cardiologist specialising in adult congenital heart disease at Royal Brompton Hospital, as well as a Reader at Imperial College London. She holds a first-class BSc from University College London and a PhD in congenital heart disease from Imperial College London, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. At the BHF she provides clinical research leadership, working with the Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, Director of Research, and the scientific team. She is internationally recognised for her research on improving care and outcomes for adults born with heart defects, and has been a prominent public voice calling for urgent action on cardiovascular waiting lists and health inequalities in NHS heart care. In 2022 she was named an Inspiring Communicator by CharityComms for her campaigning on behalf of heart patients during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

References for this biography

1. 1.BHF Research Leadership Team – BHF — Confirms her current title as Clinical Director at the British Heart Foundation
2. 2.Sonya Babu-Narayan – EACTS Faculty Profile — Confirms her roles at Royal Brompton Hospital and Imperial College London; PhD; AHA Outstanding Contribution to Paediatric Research Award; ESC CMR accreditation
3. 3.The BHF appoints new Associate Medical Director – BHF News Archive — Details her October 2018 appointment as Associate Medical Director and her clinical/research background
4. 4.Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan – Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals — Confirms consultant cardiologist role, clinical background, research focus on cardiac fibrosis and congenital heart disease, and Royal Brompton service developments
5. 5.BHF Associate Medical Director wins Inspiring Communicator Award – BHF — Evidences the CharityComms 2022 Inspiring Communicator Award and her public advocacy on cardiovascular waiting lists and COVID-19 impact on heart patients
6. 6.Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan – Oral Evidence to House of Lords Committee — Confirms her giving parliamentary oral evidence on cardiovascular disease and COVID-19 impacts, and NHS cardiology capacity
7. 7.Heart care waiting list grows by nearly 100,000 in two years – BHF — Evidences her ongoing public advocacy on NHS cardiovascular waiting lists in her role as Associate Medical Director/Clinical Director
8. 8.Head Office – British Heart Foundation — Confirms BHF registered office address and postcode: Greater London House, 180 Hampstead Road, London NW1 7AW

Notable achievements

• Named an Inspiring Communicator at the CharityComms Inspiring Communicator Awards 2022 for campaigning for heart patients during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Source ↗
• Awarded an AHA Outstanding Contribution to Paediatric Research Award for her work on congenital heart disease. Source ↗
• Appointed BHF Associate Medical Director in October 2018, subsequently progressing to Clinical Director, while continuing clinical and research work at Royal Brompton Hospital and Imperial College London. Source ↗
• Gave oral evidence to a House of Lords committee on cardiovascular disease impacts of COVID-19 and NHS backlogs. Source ↗
• Since her consultant appointment in 2012, implemented three new Trust services in cardiology at Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust. Source ↗

What Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan has said

• “It is exciting to see that AI can now deliver a read-out from an ECG in what feels like the blink of an eye. Technology like the AI ECG in this research, which has the potential to identify high-risk patients early, will not detect everyone with a heart condition. But it could be a solution to help fast-track the patients who are most likely to have a heart abnormality. When it comes to the heart, earlier diagnosis and treatment saves and improves lives.”

  consultant cardiologist and clinical director of the British Heart Foundation · NHS waiting lists · 29 Sept 2026 · ‘Superhuman’ AI tool spots heart disease in less than 2 seconds ↗

• “When it comes to the heart, earlier diagnosis and treatment saves lives.”

  British Heart Foundation's clinical director · Heart disease & stroke · 29 Sept 2026 · What went right this week: disease diagnoses ‘in seconds’, plus more ↗

• “By updating the traditional one-size-fits-all approach, this study redefines abnormal heart wall thickness, a key contributor to the diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. As a result, more women and small individuals were identified who would otherwise be underdiagnosed.”

  clinical director at the British Heart Foundation and a clinical cardiologist · Women's health & gynaecology · 29 Sept 2026 · Outdated guidelines mean doctors failing to spot heart condition in women ↗

• “So-called 'weight loss drugs' like semaglutide have proven benefits beyond reducing the number on the scales – they are now considered important medicines for preventing deadly heart attacks and strokes.”

  Clinical director at the British Heart Foundation · Heart disease & stroke · 10 Sept 2026 · NICE recommends semaglutide injections to prevent heart attack and stroke ↗

• “We now look forward to seeing results from larger studies with longer follow-up to see how this might save women's lives. Research like this highlights the significance of the recently renewed women's health strategy, reflecting the importance of heart health advice and care at key points across a woman's life, from periods and pregnancy to menopause and beyond.”

  Clinical director at the British Heart Foundation · Maternity & neonatal · 10 Sept 2026 · Home blood pressure checks could reduce risks after hypertensive pregnancy ↗

• “Heart disease is the world's biggest killer of not only men, but also women. It is exciting to think that if the approach used in this large study from Israel is further proven, it could lead to better and earlier cardiovascular disease detection and prevention for women.”

  consultant cardiologist and clinical director of the British Heart Foundation · Heart disease & stroke · 10 Sept 2026 · AI can detect heart disease in women using mammograms, study suggests ↗

• “Projects like these are helping to break down barriers, giving people easier access to the heart valve treatment and care they need, when they need it.”

  clinical director at the British Heart Foundation · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Calls for heart disease clinics to be rolled out NHS-wide to address ethnic disparity in treatment ↗

• “semaglutide had proven benefits "beyond reducing the number on the scales" and weight-loss drugs were now considered "important medicines" for preventing cardiovascular events.”

  clinical director of the British Heart Foundation · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS England to offer weight-loss drugs to 1.2m people to reduce risk of heart attacks and strokes ↗

• “Heart failure is consistently diagnosed too late, sometimes only when a patient is admitted to hospital. Late diagnosis may mean patients already have severe damage to their heart muscle which might have been avoided. This tool could help doctors spot heart failure earlier, by monitoring more closely those at highest risk.”

  Clinical director at the British Heart Foundation · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Scientists develop AI tool to spot heart failure risk five years before it strikes ↗

• “The findings are reassuring as they show that in routine clinical practice the device is being delivered safely and is resulting in fewer symptoms for patients.”

  consultant cardiologist and the British Heart Foundation's clinical director · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · ‘An amazing relief’: implant offers hope for those with refractory angina ↗

Where Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan has been quoted

1. NHS to use AI to catch undetectable heart disease ‘in blink of an eye’telegraph.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
2. ‘Superhuman’ AI tool spots heart disease in less than 2 secondstheguardian.com · 29 Sept 2026
3. What went right this week: disease diagnoses ‘in seconds’, plus morepositive.news · 29 Sept 2026
4. Outdated guidelines mean doctors failing to spot heart condition in womentheguardian.com · 29 Sept 2026
5. NICE recommends semaglutide injections to prevent heart attack and strokepulsetoday.co.uk · 10 Sept 2026
6. Home blood pressure checks could reduce risks after hypertensive pregnancytheguardian.com · 10 Sept 2026
7. AI can detect heart disease in women using mammograms, study suggeststheguardian.com · 10 Sept 2026
8. Calls for heart disease clinics to be rolled out NHS-wide to address ethnic disparity in treatmenttheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
9. NHS England to offer weight-loss drugs to 1.2m people to reduce risk of heart attacks and strokestheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
10. Scientists develop AI tool to spot heart failure risk five years before it strikestheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
11. ‘An amazing relief’: implant offers hope for those with refractory anginatheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• Emergency stroke treatment now available 24/7BBC
• Heart disease patients treated at home under new NHS schemeFinancial Times
• Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: biotech firm eyes cervical cancer test breakthroughSouth China Morning Post

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.bhf.org.uk/for-professionals/information-for-researchers/our-research-strategy/our-research-leadership-team
• Staff pagehttps://www.rbht.nhs.uk/specialists/dr-sonya-babu-narayan
• Websitehttps://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/contact-the-press-office
• LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sonya-babu-narayan-b5423912/

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.