Dr Philip Herbst is a Consultant Cardiologist at Tygerberg Hospital and Stellenbosch University, where he serves as a senior specialist in general cardiology and cardiovascular imaging. He is internationally recognised for his expertise in echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), and he leads the cardiovascular imaging services at Tygerberg Hospital.

He obtained his MBChB from Stellenbosch University (1997), followed by postgraduate training in the United Kingdom, earning the MRCP (UK). He subsequently completed specialist training in Internal Medicine (FCP (SA)) and Cardiology (Cert Cardiology (SA)) through the College of Medicine of South Africa.

Dr Herbst holds European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI) Level III accreditation in Cardiac MRI — currently the only such accreditation in South Africa — and has been instrumental in developing and expanding the cardiac MRI service at Tygerberg Hospital. He performs and reports more than 500 cardiac MRI scans annually and has played a central role in establishing advanced multimodality imaging within the public academic sector.

He is co-founder and clinical lead of the Echo in Africa Project, a rheumatic heart disease (RHD) screening initiative conducted in collaboration with the British Society of Echocardiography. The project focuses on early detection of RHD in schoolchildren from underserved communities and integrates research, service delivery, and training.

Dr Herbst’s research programme centres on cardiovascular imaging, structural heart disease, and inflammatory and infectious cardiac conditions.

His research reflects a consistent focus on integrating advanced imaging with clinical outcomes in African and global contexts.