Rate My Professor Rob Heard

Conjoint Professor Rob Heard is a distinguished neurologist affiliated with the University of Newcastle's School of Medicine and Public Health in the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing. With over 30 years of experience combining academic and clinical neurology, he specializes in general neurology, diagnostic neurophysiology, neuromuscular disease, neuroimmunology, and vertigo. Born in Western Australia and educated in the United Kingdom, Professor Heard studied medicine and neurology at Guy's Hospital, the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London. He holds an Honours BSc in clinical pharmacology and a research MD in molecular immunogenetics. His qualifications include MBBS, FRCP (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London), FRACP (Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians), FAAN (Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology), and FANA (Fellow of the American Neurological Association). He trained in clinical neurophysiology at Westmead Hospital and began his consultant career as a staff specialist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, where he founded the Westmead MS Clinic.

Professor Heard's research contributions include participation in a genetics team that identified the first new multiple sclerosis susceptibility gene in over 30 years, resulting in publications in prestigious journals such as Nature, Nature Genetics, Lancet Neurology, Journal of Immunology, and the New England Journal of Medicine. He has authored more than 100 research papers and engaged in several clinical trials, serving as the inaugural Chairman of the MSRA Clinical Trials Network. Currently, he maintains a clinical practice on the New South Wales Central Coast as a Visiting Neurologist and Neurophysiologist at Gosford and Wyong Hospitals and Gosford Private Hospital, honorary consultant at Westmead Hospital, and consultant neurologist to the Australian Defence Forces. He holds appointments as Professor of Medicine at the Universities of Sydney and Newcastle. Professor Heard serves on the ANZAN Asia Pacific Committee, examines for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and authors a regular blog on advances in neurosciences and clinical neurology.