Professor Alta Schutte (Australia)

5.     What advice would you give your younger self?

Believe in yourself. Don’t be hesitant to meet and speak with leading researchers.

6.     Highlight your most significant research contributions and publications (3-5) – if relevant to you.

I have a very diverse research portfolio!

Leading the development of the 2020 ISH Guidelines during my term as president is an important highlight, especially since we made room and particularly focused on essential standards of care for low resource settings. This was a unique approach:

(1) Unger T, Borghi C, Charchar F, Khan NA, Poulter NR, Prabhakaran D, Ramirez A, Schlaich M, Stergiou GS, Tomaszewski M, Wainford RD, Williams B, Schutte AE. 2020 International Society of Hypertension Global Hypertension Practice Guidelines. Hypertension 2020; 75:1334-1357 and J Hypertens 2020; 38:982-1004.

When compared to other high-income countries, the management of raised BP in Australia is lagging behind many other countries. We pointed out this key challenge and are now working towards establishing a national taskforce to tackle this problem.

(2) Schutte AE, Webster R, Jennings G, Schlaich M. Uncontrolled blood pressure in Australia: a call to action. Med J Aus 2021; doi: 10.5694/mja2.51350.

I led the setup of a research team and network on the development of hypertension in South Africa. There are many key contributions but a most recent one involved the detailed evaluation of the RAS profile in an African population and how this profile predicts change in BP over time. Very excited about our findings.

(3) Gafane-Matemane LF, Kruger R, Smith W, Mels CMC, Van Rooyen JM, Mokwatsi GG, Uys AS, Brits SJ, Schutte AE. Characterization of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in young healthy black adults: The African-PREDICT study. Hypertension 2021; 78:400-410.

7.     Have you had any significant career mentors? If yes, please provide further details.

Since the very early days in my career 20 years ago I have had numerous important mentors (perhaps some of them didn’t even realise it). These included my School Director, Director of our research unit, PhD supervisor and senior leadership officers at the ISH and ESH. Importantly, some have been highly successful women with children encouraging me to follow my dreams.

8.     How can we support the next generation of women scientists?

This platform in ISH is a fantastic starting point. Open all possible channels of communication. Encourage early mentorship and openness of upcoming researchers to get in touch with those that are more established. There are often great willingness to work with and support early and mid-career researchers.