Four decades of research leaves a lasting impact

Published: 24 September 2026

For over 40 years, Professor Mark Richards’ heart research has helped improve diagnosis and treatment in New Zealand and worldwide.

Professor Mark Richards has dedicated his professional life to heart disease, working with his research team to improve diagnosis and treatment for people in New Zealand. 

As Director of the Christchurch Heart Institute, a consultant cardiologist, Professor of Medicine at the University of Otago, and Heart Foundation Chair of Cardiovascular Studies, Mark leads research that helps improve diagnosis, assess risk and guide treatment.

A blood test that changed care

In the 1980s, research discovered the heart was an organ that could produce hormones. That same decade, Mark and his colleagues began studying BNP, a hormone that’s released into the bloodstream when the heart is working harder than it should. 

The team contributed to research that showed BNP and a small fragment of it, called NT-proBNP, could be used as a powerful tool for diagnosing heart failure, predicting outcomes, and identifying response to therapy.  

“Having a tool that gives you an idea of whether heart failure is actually present or not, how bad it is, and whether or not it’s responding to the treatment you’re offering is actually a huge advance,” explains Mark.  

“It’s like moving from horse travel to jet transport in real life. And it’s made a monstrous difference not just in New Zealand heart failure management but globally as well.” 

Better decisions in emergency departments

Mark’s work has also helped improve how hospitals use cardiac troponin tests. Troponin is a protein released into the bloodstream when the heart muscle is damaged, for example during a heart attack.  

Testing for troponin helps emergency teams assess whether a person with chest pain may be having a heart attack. 

Mark’s team, and his colleagues in the Christchurch Hospital Emergency Department, identified the most accurate and efficient ways to use the test, helping doctors make faster decisions about appropriate treatment. 

“The test accelerates a patient’s time out of the department and into appropriate treatment and reduces costs and improves outcomes for patients,” he says. “All of that has contributed to international guidelines that apply right around the world.”

Long-term support, lasting benefit

Heart Foundation investment in Mark’s work dates back to the 1980s when it funded a Senior Research Fellowship in the early stages of his career. 

Thanks to Heart Foundation donors and supporters, that support has continued over the last four decades, turning New Zealand research into practical tools that benefit people throughout the country. 

“We would not have been able to do what we’ve done, even half of it, without Heart Foundation support over decades,” Mark says. 

Mark says heart disease remains a major issue for New Zealanders, particularly as people get older, and that’s what keeps him motivated.   

“All of us, by the time you get to my age, have friends and family who have suffered from the consequences of heart disease,” he says.  

“It’s the cardinal problem for New Zealanders as they move through middle age and older. It’s important work and that’s what attracted me to it. If you want to spend your life working away at some puzzles, they may as well be important. And heart disease is important.”