Richard Underwood MA, BM, BCh, DM, FRCP, FRCR, FESC, FACC, FASNC

Professor Richard Underwood graduated in chemistry and then medicine from Merton College Oxford, going on general medical training and then research at the Middlesex Hospital in London. He joined the National Heart Hospital, later becoming the Royal Brompton Hospital, and was a founding member of the cardiovascular magnetic resonance team, a service that he also led in the 1990s when he created and lead the nuclear medicine service, expanding to Harefield Hospital in 2013.

He was pivotal in the development of cardiovascular magnetic resonance and nuclear cardiology leading technical and clinical developments in both fields. Particular interests have been imaging in heart failure, pharmacological stress techniques, and health economics as applied to cardiac imaging. Professor Underwood retired in 2023 but still works part-time in the NHS in Yorkshire and the private sector.

Besides practicing as a clinician, Professor Underwood has chaired specialty groups such as the British Nuclear Cardiology Society and has played leading roles in the British Cardiac Society, the European Society of Cardiology, the European Society of Nuclear Medicine, and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging. He has led training courses both nationally and internationally and he remains an enthusiastic and sought-after teacher. Professor Underwood has over 300 scientific publications to his name, including more than 40 books and chapters in major reference works. He is on the editorial board of many national and international journals.