Fresh from his last conference as Co-Chair of Education, Professor David Oxborough FBSE, Professor of Echocardiography and Cardiovascular Physiology at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), shares what his British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) Lifetime Achievement Award means to him.
It was a fantastic honour to be nominated and to receive the BSE Lifetime Achievement Award 2025 for service and contribution to the advancement of echocardiography.
Having started my professional career in 1996 as a cardiac physiologist, I soon realised that echocardiography was my path.
The ability to see the heart and provide objective assessment of its structure and function was incredible and, alongside the advancing technology, inspired me to recognise patterns and raise questions. My clinical work took me into cardiac screening and, in 1998, I started working with Cardiac Risk in the Young. This pivotal point in my career led to pursuing research questions within my postgraduate education related to the athlete’s heart and differentiation from pathology using novel techniques in echocardiography i.e. tissue Doppler and strain imaging.
A serendipitous meeting with Professor Keith George and Professor Greg Whyte created a junction that I would take (and not look back) into academia. I was able to undertake a PhD under Professor George (LJMU) and Professor Karen Birch’s (University of Leeds) mentorship and supervision to target the gaps in the athlete’s heart space. I took a Clinical Lecturer role at the University of Leeds in 2006 and a Reader position followed at LJMU in 2012. The link between practice, research, education and impact was beginning to make sense.
In 2011, I became an active member of the Education Committee of the BSE.
This was my Society and was fundamental in driving quality and standards in echocardiography and it was fantastic to be part of its continual evolution. Research fed into guidelines and guidelines fed into policy and the assessment of the cardiac health in athletes became my continued focus. I was privileged to Co-chair the Education Committee with Dr Liam Ring from 2022, around the time I was conferred to Professor of Echocardiography and Cardiovascular Physiology at LJMU.
The Lifetime Achievement Award means so much to me as someone who has devoted their working life to echocardiography.
This journey has taken me all over the world and I have met many amazing and wonderful like-minded colleagues and friends. Students have come and gone. As they progress and shape their careers, it has been an honour to have had some part in their development. The BSE stands strong as a society for the echocardiographer. My affiliation is unwavering, and my commitment will continue to help drive the profession and support our members. A Lifetime Achievement Award represents the past 30 years; however, there are still many years of research, education and practice still to come for me. I will build on these foundations and continue the work we have created. The multifactorial nature of the athlete’s heart and the impact of pre-participation screening are still not fully understood, and with the continuing evolution of echocardiography there is a strong rationale for putting these agendas at the forefront of my future research and professional objectives.
I would like to thank all the people I have worked with, all those that I have had the pleasure of teaching/supervising and all those that I have done research with and on. I would also like to thank the BSE as our Society and our community, and LJMU for providing me with the academic space to really push my interests and goals.
We also spoke to Professor Dan Augustine, President of the BSE, who presented Professor Oxborough with his award.
Dan said, “The BSE Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honour bestowed by the Society. It recognises a distinguished career in echocardiography and a lasting impact on our field.
“This year, we are delighted to present the award to Professor David Oxborough. Dave has worked as a clinical echocardiographer for over 20 years, making an exceptional contribution to echocardiography education and research at both national and international levels. His impressive academic output includes more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and close to 10,000 citations.
“A dedicated member of the BSE for more than 15 years, Dave has led numerous educational and research initiatives, co-chaired the Education Committee, and mentored countless echocardiographers – both clinically and academically.
“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dave for several years, and I couldn’t be more pleased to see him receive this recognition. It is a richly deserved honour for a career defined by excellence, generosity, and lasting influence in our community.”