Prof. Lars Gullestad

Prof. Lars Gullestad is one of Norway's leading cardiologists and a professor of cardiology at the University of Oslo, based at Oslo University Hospital's Rikshospitalet — Norway's national hospital and the country's principal centre for cardiac transplantation and advanced heart failure management. Over a career spanning more than 30 years, he has developed exceptional expertise in the management of end-stage heart failure, including cardiac transplantation evaluation, left ventricular assist device (LVAD) therapy, and the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Rikshospitalet is the only centre in Norway performing heart transplantations, and Prof. Gullestad has been at the heart of this programme for decades, contributing to its clinical protocols, patient selection criteria, and post-transplant immunosuppression strategies. His work bridges clinical practice and research, with a deep commitment to advancing the pharmacological and device-based treatment options available to patients with advanced cardiac disease.

Prof. Gullestad has been a driving force in Norwegian heart failure research, leading or contributing to landmark pharmacotherapy trials and establishing registries that track long-term outcomes in Norwegian patients with heart failure and cardiomyopathy. His research has been published in leading international journals and presented at the world's foremost cardiology congresses.

As a professor at the University of Oslo, he trains cardiologists and supervises doctoral research in heart failure and transplant cardiology, ensuring that Norway's next generation of cardiac specialists is equipped to deliver the highest standards of care.

Prof. Gullestad completed his medical degree at the University of Oslo, one of Scandinavia's leading research universities. He undertook core specialty training in internal medicine and cardiology at Norwegian teaching hospitals before subspecialising in heart failure and transplant cardiology at Rikshospitalet, Norway's national cardiology centre.

He was awarded his PhD for research into pharmacological treatment in heart failure, with particular focus on immunomodulatory therapies and the role of statins in non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy — work that contributed to a broader understanding of inflammatory mechanisms in heart failure pathogenesis. He completed advanced clinical training in cardiac transplant evaluation and LVAD management, including exposure to international transplant programmes.

Prof. Gullestad holds Fellowship of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) and has served on the NSC executive and on ESC Heart Failure Association working groups. He holds a full professorship at the University of Oslo Faculty of Medicine, where he continues to teach and supervise postgraduate researchers.

Prof. Gullestad's clinical expertise centres on the diagnosis, management, and advanced therapy of heart failure — particularly in patients with end-stage disease requiring evaluation for heart transplantation or mechanical circulatory support with LVADs. He leads a multidisciplinary advanced heart failure team at Rikshospitalet that makes complex decisions about transplant candidacy, LVAD implantation, and palliative care for patients who are not transplant candidates.

His procedural expertise includes comprehensive echocardiographic assessment of ventricular function, right heart catheterisation for haemodynamic profiling, and LVAD implant evaluation and ongoing management. He also has deep expertise in the management of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), including vasodilator testing and the initiation and monitoring of PAH-specific pharmacotherapy.

Post-transplant care is another key component of his clinical practice. Prof. Gullestad manages the immunosuppression, surveillance, and long-term monitoring of patients who have received cardiac transplants, with particular expertise in optimising immunosuppressive regimens to prevent rejection while minimising the risk of infection and malignancy.

Prof. Gullestad has authored or co-authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications in journals including the European Heart Journal, Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), Circulation, and the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. His research spans pharmacotherapy in heart failure, transplant immunosuppression, and the Norwegian LVAD registry.

His most influential research contributions include large-scale clinical trials examining immunomodulation in heart failure — with studies on intravenous immunoglobulin therapy representing early pioneering work in understanding the inflammatory hypothesis of dilated cardiomyopathy. He has also led influential studies on statin use in non-ischaemic heart failure populations, contributing to the evidence base that informed international guidelines.

The Norwegian LVAD registry, to which Prof. Gullestad has been a major contributor, tracks long-term outcomes in patients receiving mechanical circulatory support and has provided important population-level data on LVAD survival, complication rates, and quality of life. His research group also contributes to the Norwegian Cardiac Transplant Programme's outcome database.

Prof. Gullestad consults in Norwegian and English, and Rikshospitalet receives international referrals for advanced heart failure assessment, transplant evaluation, and pulmonary hypertension management from across Scandinavia and the wider European region. The hospital has an established international patient coordination service.

EU/EEA patients may qualify for cross-border healthcare funding, and the hospital can assist with arranging referral documentation and prior authorisation from home country health authorities. For highly complex cases requiring evaluation for transplantation or LVAD implantation, early consultation with Prof. Gullestad's team can be arranged, often beginning with a telemedicine review of existing medical records and investigations.

Post-transplant follow-up visits can be coordinated for international patients who have received transplants at Rikshospitalet, and Prof. Gullestad maintains collaborative relationships with transplant programmes across Europe to facilitate shared post-transplant care.

Prof. Gullestad has been recognised by the Norwegian Society of Cardiology (NSC) as a Distinguished Fellow in recognition of his sustained contributions to Norwegian cardiology research and clinical practice. He is a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) and has been honoured as a Distinguished Member of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT), reflecting his international standing in the transplant cardiology community.

The Norwegian Heart and Lung Foundation has awarded him its research prize for outstanding contributions to cardiovascular science. He has delivered invited lectures at ESC Heart Failure Congresses, ISHLT Annual Meetings, and other international forums, and he has served as a peer reviewer for leading journals including the European Heart Journal and Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.