David Paterson D.Phil (Oxon), D.Sc HonDUniv (WAust), HonLLD (Otago) is a New Zealand-born British physiologist and academic. He is a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford (1994-date), Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology (2002-date) and Head of the Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics (2016-date) at the University of Oxford. He has been Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Physiology and President of The Physiological Society of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Paterson is best known for his work in cardiac neurobiology, linking the nervous system to heart rhythm, which was featured in the 2012 BBC Four documentary Heart v Mind: What Makes Us Human? In 2024 he became the European lead on a Leducq Transatlantic Network of Excellence Award with UCLA on Bioelectronics for Neurocardiology. He is a Honorary Fellow of The Physiological Society, The Royal Society of New Zealand, a member of Academia Europaea, and a Fellow of the American Physiological Society and IUPS.