Dr Jennifer Coller
MBBS DDU PhD FRACP FCSANZ
DIRECTOR & Consultant Cardiologist
Approach
Dr Jennifer Coller is a caring and compassionate cardiologist with a breadth of experience which allows her to take a detailed and thorough approach in her assessment of her patients. She has a long history of managing patients with complex and interacting medical issues. Jennifer recognises that helping her patients understand their heart conditions is key to building trust and working in partnership to improve their heart health. This includes answering questions and actively addressing any concerns a patient may have, with kindness and respect.
Training and Experience
Across her career, Jennifer has been fortunate to gain experience in a range of settings within Australia and internationally. She initially undertook her Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree at the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital Clinical School. Jennifer saw patients with a wide range of cardiovascular conditions at the Madras Medical Mission in Chennai, South India and Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital in Samoa during her medical school elective placements. After completing her internship, she also enjoyed a year in the United Kingdom locuming in nine different emergency departments in England and Wales and gaining experience within the NHS system.
On her return to Australia, she completed further training as a physician at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Eastern Health. She was granted her Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2009 after completing a Fellowship of Echocardiography at St Vincent’s Hospital. Jennifer subsequently worked at the St Vincent’s Heart Centre and Heart Failure Clinic, providing consultations and interpreting echocardiograms and stress echocardiograms and undertaking ward service. She was instrumental in establishing the Hypertension Clinic at the Heart Centre, the Neuromuscular Cardiology Clinic to support patients with muscular dystrophy and the Heart Failure Supportive Care service. She has completed a PhD (University of Melbourne) in the field of heart failure screening and prevention with natriuretic peptides and echocardiography, and also holds a Diploma of Diagnostic Ultrasound.
Having worked in numerous locations within regional Victoria during her career, Jennifer established Connected Cardiology in 2019 to address the barriers patients within regional areas face in accessing specialist cardiac care by appropriate use of telehealth and the establishment of outreach services. In 2023, she was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Rural Outreach Award at the Victorian Rural Health Awards.
Jennifer relocated to Shepparton in 2022, to take on the role of Clinical Director of Cardiology at Goulburn Valley Health – she was responsible for driving significant service expansion and improvement in the cardiology service, including establishment of outreach clinics at NCN Health (Numurkah), Waranga Health (Rushworth) and Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-Operative (Mooroopna). She supervised multiple quality improvement projects funded by Safer Care Victoria, including the Heart Failure Collaborative, Cardiac Ambassador Project and Rapid Access AF Clinic – now embedded into care at GV Health.
She consults regularly at Connected Cardiology regional investigative hub in Shepparton and fortnightly at the Cobram Medical Centre through Connected Cardiology.
Jennifer continues to have a keen interest in improving cardiovascular health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and helping to Close the Gap. She has visited Darwin and the remote indigenous community of Maningrida (Northern Territory), and continues to care for Aboriginal patients within regional Victoria. She has completed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Cultural Competence Course through the Centre for Cultural Competence Australia. She is a member of the Cardiac Clinical Network Coordinating Committee with Safer Care Victoria.
Twelve years into her career, Jennifer continues to feel privileged to care for patients and their carers in often challenging times.
Research and Teaching
Jennifer has been actively involved in research throughout her career, publishing in local and international peer reviewed journals. She acts as a regular reviewer for journals such as the Australian Journal of General Practice and the Internal Medical Journal of Australia.
She has always been passionate about education for her patients and other health professionals. Jennifer has been heavily involved in cardiac education as a regular lecturer of medical students at the St Vincent’s Clinical School and developed lectures for the University of Melbourne during her time as Associate Dean. She is also regularly invited to give updates in cardiology to pharmacists and general practitioners. Jennifer is passionate about improving public awareness of cardiac disease and promoting cardiovascular health within the community.
In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys reading detective novels, walking, Pilates and meditation. She is currently learning to kyak. She dabbles in graphic and interior design.
Coller, J.M., Gong, F.F., McGrady, M., Jelinek, M.V., Castro, J.M., Boffa, U., Shiel, L., Liew, D., Stewart, S., Krum, H., Reid, C.M., Prior, D.L., Campbell, D.J. Age-specific diastolic dysfunction improves prediction of symptomatic heart failure by Stage B heart failure. ESC Heart Failure 2019 DOI:10.1002/ehf2.12449
S. Monagle, D. Prior, T. Roberts, J. Coller. Prevalence and Management of Cardiomyopathy in Adult Patients with Muscular Dystrophies. Heart, Lung and Circulation, 2019 Vol. 28, S186–S187.
J. Coller, D. Campbell, H. Krum, M. McGrady, L. Shiel, C. Reid, U. Boffa, R. Wolfe, S. Stewart, D. Prior. Association of amino-terminal-B-type natriuretic peptide levels with structural heart disease in a community cohort at increased risk of heart failure – the SCREEN-HF study. Global Heart 2014. 9(1); Supp(Mar); e8-9
J. Coller, D. Campbell, H. Krum, M. McGrady, L. Shiel, C. Reid, U. Boffa, R. Wolfe, S. Stewart, D.L. Prior. A novel, simplified diastolic scoring system better classifies subjects into diastolic grades with increasing cardiovascular risk than EAE/ASE recommendations. Global Heart 2014 9(1); Supp(Mar); e80
J. Coller, D. Campbell, H. Krum, M. McGrady, L. Shiel, C. Reid, U. Boffa, R. Wolfe, S. Stewart, D.L. Prior. Poor tissue Doppler sample volume placement leads to errors in estimates of left ventricular filling pressures. Global Heart 2014 9(1); Supp(Mar);e144-145
J. Coller, D. Campbell, H. Krum, L. Shiel, C. Reid, R. Wolfe, M. McGrady, D. Liew, S. Stewart, U. Boffa, D. Prior. Structural heart disease is common within a community cohort at risk of heart failure – the SCREEN-HF study. Heart, Lung and Circulation 2013. Vol 22, S88
J. Coller, W. Stevens, A. MacIsaac, B. Pang, A. McClellan, D. Prior. Reproducibility of echocardiographic estimates of pulmonary haemodynamics and RV function in patients with scleroderma. Heart, Lung and Circulation 2012. Vol 21, S220
Coller, J.M. Krum, H., Campbell, D.J., Prior, D.L. Early identification of asymptomatic individuals at increased risk of heart failure and cardiovascular events – progress and future directions. Heart, Lung & Circulation, 2012 22 (3); 171-178
Coller, J.M. Krum, H., Campbell, D.J., Prior, D.L. Transthoracic echocardiography findings – implications for clinical management. Australian Family Physician 2012 41(12); 954-958.
J. Coller, M. McGrady, L. Shiel, C. Reid, U. Boffa, D. Liew, S. Stewart, R. Wolfe, H. Krum, D. Campbell, D. Prior. Relationship between amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and left atrial volume index in older subjects at risk of heart failure. Heart, Lung and Circulation 2011 Vol 20, S76.
J. Coller, P. Srivastava, A. Adel, R. Delahunty, J. Chew, L. Roberts, G. New, J. Cooke. Prognostic Validation of Treadmill Stress Echocardiography in an Unselected Australian Population. Heart, Lung and Circulation 2010. Vol 19, S224
Coller, J.M. Parente, P., Esmore, D., New, G., Cooke, J.C., Murugasu, A. Large left ventricular metastasis causing left ventricular outflow tract obstruction and haemolysis. European Journal of Echocardiography 2009 10(3):456-458
J.M. Coller, A. Adel, C. Ting, Louise Roberts, G. New, J. Cooke, P.M. Srivastava. Clinical outcomes following stress echocardiography within an open-access referral system in Australia. Heart, Lung and Circulation, Vol 17, Suppl 3, 2008, Page S39.
J.M. Coller, S.Ching-Liew, J. Sapontis, L. Roberts, M. Rowe, Y. Cheong, G. Proimos, C.r Goods, M.Walsh, M. Tokhi, N. Low, G. New. Clinical Outcomes of In-house and Transferred Patients After Primary PCI at a Tertiary Centre with Off-Site Surgical Back-Up. Heart, Lung and Circulation, Vol 17, Suppl 3, 2008, Pages S180-S181.
J.M. Coller, L. Roberts, N. Andrianopoulos, C. Reid, G. Szto, E. Mah, A. Brennan, B. Yan, G. New. Door-to-Balloon Time—Results from a Multi-Centre Registry of Primary PCI in Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). Heart, Lung and Circulation, Vol 17, Suppl 3, 2008, Page S182.
J.M. Coller, J. Sapontis, S. Ching-Liew, L. Roberts, M. Rowe, Y.M. Cheong, G. Proimos, D. Fernando, C. Goods, M. Walsh, M. Tokhi, G . New. Safety And Efficacy Of Elective And Emergent Percutaneous Intervention With Off-Site Surgical Services. Heart Lung and Circulation, Vol 17, Suppl 3, 2008, S180.
Campbell, D.J., Gong, F.F., Jelinek, M.V., Castro, J.M., Coller, J.M., McGrady, M., Boffa, U., Shiel, L., Wang, B.H., Liew, D., Wolfe, R., Stewart, S., Owen, A.J., Krum, H., Reid, C.M., Prior, D.L. Prediction of incident heart failure by serum amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide level in a community-based cohort. European Journal of Heart Failure 2019. Doi:10.1002/ejhf.1381
Campbell, D.J., Gong, F.F., Jelinek, M.V., Castro, J.M., Coller, J.M., McGrady, M., Boffa, U., Shiel, L., Liew, D., Stewart, S., Owen, A.J., Krum, H., Reid, C.M., Prior, D.L. Threshold body mass index and sex-specific waist circumference for increased risk of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology 2019 Oct;26(15):1594-1602.
Gong, F.F., Jelinek, M.V., Castro, J.M., Coller, J.M., McGrady, M., Boffa, U., Shiel, L., Liew, D., Wolfe, R., Stewart, S., Owen, A.J., Krum, H., Reid, C.M., Prior, D.L., Campbell, D.J. Risk factors for incident heart failure with preserved or reduced ejection fraction, and valvular heart failure, in a community-based cohort. Open Heart 2018;5:e000782. Doi:10.1136/openhrt-2018-000782
Campbell, D., Coller J.M., Gong, F., McGrady, M., Prior, D., Boffa, U., Shiel, L., Liew, D., Wolfe, R., Owen, A., Krum, H., Reid, C. Risk factor management in a contemporary Australian population at increased cardiovascular risk – Internal Medicine Journal 2017 48 (6); 688-698.
Campbell, D., McGrady, M., Prior, D., Coller, J., Boffa, U., Shiel, L, Liew, D., Wolfe, R., Stewart, S., Reid, C., Krum, H. Serum amino-terminal-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level is superior to Framingham risk score for the prediction of heart failure (HF) and other cardiovascular (CV) events in individuals aged >60 years with >1 CV risk factor: interim analysis of the Screening Evaluation of the Evolution of New Heart Failure (SCREEN-HF) study. Heart, Lung and Circulation 2015 24 (S3);S217-S218.
Prior, DL., Coller, J. Echocardiography in Heart Failure – a guide for GPs. Australian Family Physician 2010 Dec;39(12):904-9
D.J. Campbell, M.McGrady, D.L.Prior, J.M. Coller, U. Boffa, L. Shiel, D. Liew, R. Wolfe, S. Stewart, C.M. Reid, H. Krum. Most individuals with treated blood pressures above target receive only one or two antihypertensive drug classes. Internal Medical Journal 2013 43(2); 137-143
S. Murch, A. McClellan, J. Coller, A. MacIsaaac, A. Burns, D. Prior. Tissues Doppler parameters of right ventricular diastolic dysfunction do not predict dobutamine-induced changes in pulmonary haemodynamics in patients with scleroderma. Heart, Lung and Circulation 2012. Vol 21, S230.
S. Ching-Liew, L. Roberts, J. Coller, J. Sapontis, J. Cooke, C. Martin, P. Naidu, G. New. Achieving Global Standards for LDL—Are We There Yet? Heart, Lung and Circulation, Vol 17, Suppl 3, 2008, Page S94.
A. Teh, C.C.S. Lim, V. Pandeli, L. Roberts, J. Coller, G. Proimos, Y.M. Cheong, C. Goods, M. Rowe, D. Fernando, G. New. A Single Centre Prospective Study of Elective and Emergent Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) with Off-Site Surgical Back-Up. Heart, Lung and Circulation, Vol 16, Suppl 2, 2007, Page S155.
