Dr Sonya Babu-NarayanClinician

Biography

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

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.

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Adult congenital heart disease
• Cardiovascular waiting lists
• NHS heart care inequalities
• Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging
• Heart disease prevention and policy
• Women and heart disease

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 they’ve said

• “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.”

Source references

1. Calls for heart disease clinics to be rolled out NHS-wide to address ethnic disparity in treatmenttheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. NHS England to offer weight-loss drugs to 1.2m people to reduce risk of heart attacks and strokestheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. Scientists develop AI tool to spot heart failure risk five years before it strikestheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
4. ‘An amazing relief’: implant offers hope for those with refractory anginatheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

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.