Executive Council 

Gabriela Ghisi is an Affiliate Scientist at the KITE Research Institute, Toronto Rehab (Canada). She also holds adjunct appointments at the the University of Toronto (Canada), York University (Canada), the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), and University of Sydney (Australia). Her research focuses on patient education in chronic disease management and global access to cardiac rehabilitation. In collaboration with cardiac rehab programs worldwide, she has led the successful development, implementation, and evaluation of an evidence-based patient education curriculum in 12 countries. She has published 140+ papers, authored clinical practice guidelines, and developed more than 10 cardiac rehabilitation-related scales. Dr Ghisi is also a member of the research committee of the American Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (AACVPR; United States), Brazilian Association of Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy and Intensive Care Physiotherapy (ASSOBRAFIR; Brazil) and Canadian Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (CACPR; Canada).

Vice Chair: Dr. Abraham Babu (India)

Dr. Abraham Samuel Babu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiotherapy at the Manipal College of Health Professions, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, India. He also holds Honorary positions in Australia (Austin Health) and UK (University of Glasgow). His work is focused on home-based cardiac rehabilitation in heart failure and pulmonary hypertension, with a clinical and translational focus. He served on the development group of the WHO’s Package of Rehabilitation Interventions for Ischemic heart disease and currently serves on the Committee on Exercise Physiology & Training of the Heart Failure Association of the ESC, the exercise taskforce of the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute, UK and the World Rehabilitation Alliance of the WHO in the Workforce workstream. He has published >100 papers and contributed to 8 textbook chapters. He serves as the Deputy Editor for Global Heart, Associate Editor for the Heart Failure Journal of India and is on the Editorial boards of the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation & Prevention, Journal of Geriatric Cardiology and Scientific Reports. He also serves as peer reviewer for leading journals and funding agencies.

Secretary: Dr. Dion Candelaria (Australia)

Dr. Dion Candelaria is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Sydney Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health. He is a Registered Nurse and his research focuses on supporting patients to reduce their risk of further cardiovascular events through promoting secondary prevention behaviours and cardiac rehabilitation. Dion is the current President of the Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association (ACRA) NSW/ACT.

Treasurer: Jonathan David (United States)

Jonathan is a Nurse Coordinator (level III) for inpatient cardiac rehabilitation at Stanford Health Care. Jonathan focuses on the primary and secondary prevention strategies among cardiovascular patient populations in acute cardiovascular medicine and cardiothoracic surgery units. He continues translating evidence into practice on various cardiovascular clinical processes and manages clinical performance metrics related to cardiac rehabilitation referral, enrollment, and participation. He continues to serve in multiple cardiovascular organizations at the local and national chapters.

Robyn Gallagher is Professor of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney Nursing School based at the Charles Perkins Centre and an Honorary Professor at Edinburgh Napier University. Professor Gallagher’s clinical and academic career focusses on understanding and supporting patients who have cardiovascular disease to engage in secondary prevention behaviours to reduce their risk of future cardiovascular events. She leads intervention programs that use technology such as mobile apps and wearable trackers to support behaviour change in cardiac patients and has extensive experience in establishing multidisciplinary research teams. Her work with these teams has been internationally recognised, won awards and altered clinical practice leading to significant changes in policy. She is an experienced academic and research degree supervisor and has received the University of Sydney Vice Chancellor's Award for HDR Supervisor of the Year 2023 and the 2020 Student Union Supervision Award. She was previously Director of Research Students at the University of Technology, Sydney, where she received the Postgraduate Supervision Award for Excellence. She has published 210+ papers, 16 book chapters and has had continuing grant funding totalling $17mill.

Exec Advisor: Prof. Sherry Grace (Canada)

Sherry Grace is Full Professor at York University and Sr. Scientist with KITE-Toronto Rehab of University Health Network, Toronto. Her research centers on optimizing post-acute cardiovascular care in under-served populations. She co-founded ICCPR, and continues to serve on the Executive Board, co-leading the registry and clinician Certification (CRFC).

Exec Advisor: Prof. John Buckley (United Kingdom)

John Buckley is a Professor of Exercise Rehabilitation in the School of Allied Health Professions at Keele University, Staffordshire, UK. Following his Presidency of the British Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR, 2011), he co-founded the ICCPR with his North American Canadian colleagues Professor Sherry Grace (Toronto), Professor of Darren Warburton (Vancouver) and Professor Bonnie Sanderson (Alabama). He served as ICCPR’s Founding Chair until 2016, which grew out of his work as lead coordinator of ICCPR’s 2013 inaugural publication, The International Charter of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (link HERE). John continues to serve ICCPR as Executive Advisor on Governance, as a member of the Foundation’s Certificate curriculum and tutoring team, and in an ongoing ambassadorial role with the WHF and WHO.

Communications Officer: Isabela Roque Marçal (Canada)

Isabela is a PhD candidate in Human Kinetics with the Exercise Physiology and Cardiovascular Health Laboratory (EPCHL) at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Canada. Her research interests focus on understanding the role of exercise training in preventing and managing cardiovascular disease, with emphasis on patients with cardiac devices and women’s heart health.

Treasurer Officer: Dr. Carley O'Neill (Canada)

Carley O’Neill is an Assistant Professor in the School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Professional Studies, at Acadia University (Canada) and a Clinical Exercise Physiologist. She is a Board member of the Canadian Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation and a member of the Guiding Interdisciplinary Research On Women’s and Girls’ Health and Wellbeing program. Her research focuses on improving the inclusivity and accessibility of cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation programs among underserved groups (e.g. women, rural populations).