Apple Watch ECGSource: Apple

What you need to know

  • Apple has hired another leading cardiologist in its health push.
  • David Tsay was previously a professor of cardiology at Columbia University Medical Center.
  • During Apple's earnings call, Tim Cook expressed hope that Apple's greatest contribution would be to people's health.

According to a report from CNBC, Apple has hired leading cardiologist David Tsay, a professor of Cardiology at Columbia University Medical Center.

The report states:

Apple has hired another prominent cardiologist as it adds more medical talent to its growing team.

The company brought on David Tsay, a professor of cardiology at Columbia University Medical Center and an associate chief transformation officer, where he focused on implementing digital services. Tsay just updated his LinkedIn to note that he's joined Apple and a person familiar said he's just started his new role this month.

Tsay is the second such hire made by Apple, after it previously enlisted the services of Alexis Beatty, formerly of Washington University.

The introduction of ECG to Apple Watch Series 4 was possibly one of the biggest updates ever made to Apple's wearable smart watch. With its release, ECG signified that Apple was deadly serious about using technology to improve the health of its users. Indeed, during yesterday's earnings call Tim Cook took questions from analysts about the growth of Apple's wearables. In particular one analyst asked whether Apple's health related features were the primary driver of wearables growth for Apple. In response Cook said:

...as I've said before, my view is there will be a day in the future that we look back and Apple's greatest contribution will be to people's health.

Bringing David Tsay on board is further evidence that Apple remains set on transforming the way its customers use its tech to look after their health. The fact that this latest hire is another leading cardiologist also suggests that Apple may not be done when it comes to heart health and its products.

For a full rundown of Apple's Q4 earnings, click here, and you can see the entire transcript of the earnings call, including Tim Cook's thoughts on health here.