Association for Inherited Cardiac Conditions
Speaker Biographies 2024
We are delighted to introduce our faculty of experts who will once again be leading delegates through a series of lectures, case-based discussions and interactive Q&A sessions over the two-day conference.
Our faculty list is organised alphabetically, by surname.
Dr Rachel Bastiaenen
Rachel is the Treasurer for the AICC and is a Consultant Cardiologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust where she is the Clinical Lead for Inherited Cardiac Conditions. She is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at King’s College London.
She studied at Peterhouse Cambridge and Imperial College London. She completed Cardiology training in the London Deanery and a fellowship in Vancouver. Her PhD was awarded from St George’s University of London and involved non-invasive risk stratification of patients with cardiomyopathy. Her clinical and research interests focus on inherited arrhythmia syndromes, inherited cardiomyopathies and cardiac MRI.
Professor Elijah Behr
Elijah Behr is an international expert in the field of arrhythmias and is Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine at City St. George’s, University of London where he directs the Cardiovascular and Genomics Research Institute. He is a Consultant at St. George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Mayo Clinic Healthcare, London, where he leads nationally, and internationally reputed clinical services dedicated to patients with arrhythmias, and patients and their families with genetic risks for arrhythmia, cardiac arrest and sudden death. He has co-written multiple international guideline documents.
He is past president of the Association for Inherited Cardiac Conditions and the first chairperson of the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Genetics Group of EHRA. He is first chair of the Predisposition and Screening Genome England Clinical Interpretation Partnership and advises the NHS England Clinical Reference Groups for Cardiovascular and Genomics Services. He leads the NHS England Coronial Sudden Unexpected Death Pilot.
He leads a research group with interests that include the genomics and prediction of sudden death risk; drug-induced arrhythmia; the Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS) and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS); channelopathies including long QT and Brugada syndromes; and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. He has published over 300 articles in peer reviewed journals.
Dr Tootie Bueser
Tootie is the Director for Nursing & Midwifery at Southeast Genomic Medicine Service Alliance (GMSA) and Chief Nurse at the North Thames GMSA. She has also just taken up a new Clinical Academic role based at King’s College London (KCL) as part of an NIHR Senior Clinical Practitioner Research award.
Tootie completed her PhD at KCL as an NIHR/HEE Clinical Doctoral Fellow, and her research interests are focused on developing psychoeducational interventions for those impacted by inherited cardiac conditions. She is a member of the CNO England’s council on shared professional decision making for research and an alumnus of the NIHR70@70 Nurse Research Leadership Programme. She serves on the editorial board of the British Journal of Cardiac Nursing and is a proud Trustee at Cardiomyopathy UK. She was past President for the British Association for Nursing in Cardiovascular Care and was the inaugural Chair of the Research Forum. She is a founding member of the Filipino Senior Nurses Association.
Tootie is passionate about making sure nurses are best equipped to support patients and families impacted by ICCs through education, peer support, advocacy, and collaboration with patients and the MDT.
Professor Gerry Carr-White
Professor Gerald Carr-White was the Clinical Lead for heart failure and inherited diseases at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust for 14 years. He is now the Joint Medical Director of the cardiovascular, respiratory and critical care unit.
After qualifying from St George's Hospital with University of London honours in Medicine, Gerald trained in general medicine at the Brompton, Hammersmith and St Mary's hospitals before becoming a member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1996. He then finished a PhD in the mechanics of ventricular function from the Brompton Hospital in 2000, working with Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub and Dr Derek Gibson. His specialist cardiology training was at the Brompton and Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals. He finished his higher certification in both cardiology and general medicine in 2006.
Gerald has sat on the 2 main national leadership groups for cardiology, helping develop regional and national guidelines and service specifications for NHS England. He is currently one of 2 cardiologists sitting on the pan-london oversight board for strategy, patient pathways and covid management and recovery.
Gerald is the vice president for Cardiomyopathy UK, leading patient education events across the country, and is an elected member of the national association of inherited cardiac diseases. He is the network clinical lead for both King's Health Partners and the NHS England South London Cardiac Network, coordinating patient pathways across a population of 8 million people. Alongside his clinical work, Gerald is a Professor in heart failure and inherited diseases at King's College London, and lectures both nationally and internationally. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles in medical journals in the fields of heart failure, inherited cardiac diseases, cardiac imaging and valve disease, and has been granted over 7 million pounds in research grant income.
Prof JS Carvalho MD, PhD, FRCPCH
Julene Carvalho is a paediatric and fetal cardiologist. She works at the Royal Brompton and St George's Hospitals in London and is Professor of Practice at City St George's, University of London. She is Fellow of ISUOG (International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology), having been a Board Member and Trustee in 2009-16. She was also Council Member of BCCA (2015-19). As 'Chair' of ISUOG Fetal Heart Special Interest Group she recently published 'ISUOG cardiac guidelines for antenatal screening (2023)’.
She has a large educational and clinical research portfolio, has delivered many lectures in the UK and abroad and has many publications in the field of fetal cardiology. Some of her clinical and research interests are early fetal echocardiography and fetal arrhythmias. In recent years, she has developed further interest on antenatal manifestations of inherited cardiac conditions with focus on ‘the fetal aorta’.
Mr Graham Cooper MD FRCS (C/Th)
Graham is a Tustee of the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust. He is past president of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland and a recently retired consultant cardiac surgeon and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals with a specialist clinical interest in thoracic aortic surgery.
Graham is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He was Clinical Lead for the implementation of NHS England’s Acute Aortic Dissection (AAD) Toolkit and working with NHS England on the development of an Elective Toolkit for aortic dissection.
Professor Rob Cooper
Rob is a cardiologist at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital with an interest in the management of cardiomyopathies and cardiac MRI. He leads the regional obstructive HCM service in the north west. Research interests include medical and interventional management of HCM and cardiac adaptation to exercise.
Ms Bethan Cowley
Bethan Cowley is the Lead Nurse for Inherited Cardiac Conditions at Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals and has been working in cardiology for over 20 years. From 2009, she was a research nurse and research nurse manager in an NIHR Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit. Her time there involved setting up the now well-established biobank, managing CRTs and genetic segregation studies. She successfully pitched the need for an ICC Nurse Specialist in her organisation and was subsequently appointed as the first dedicated ICC Nurse Specialist in 2012. She now heads the largest ICC nursing team in the UK.
More recently, Bethan has been appointed member of the ESC HFA Scientific Committees on ‘Inherited Dilated Cardiomyopathy’ and ‘Pregnancy’ and is imminently due to start an NIHR ICA Pre-doctoral Clinical and Academic Fellowship. She is also the founding member of the ‘ICC Nursing & Midwifery Network UK’. Bethan is a ‘Nightingale Nurse’ with a specialist interest in family screening, HCM and LVOTO management and nursing leadership.
Dr Cecilia Gonzalez Corcia
Cecilia Gonzalez Corcia is a Consultant Cardiologist and Pediatric Electrophysiologist at CHU Sainte-Justine in Montreal, Canada. Originally from Argentina, she completed her medical studies at the University of Buenos Aires and her pediatric training at the Gutierrez Children’s Hospital. She then pursued further specialization in pediatric cardiology and electrophysiology at Boston Children’s Hospital.
After completing her training, Cecilia moved with her family to Belgium, where she laid the foundation for the first Pediatric Electrophysiology Program in Belgium at Clinique St-Luc, the Catholic University Hospital in Brussels, and UZ Antwerp. During her time in Belgium, she worked on her PhD focusing on Brugada syndrome in the young, under the mentorship of Professor Pedro Brugada, which she completed in 2017.
From 2018 to 2022, Cecilia served as the Lead of Pediatric Electrophysiology at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, where she advanced pediatric electrophysiology and inherited cardiac conditions expertise in the southwest of the UK. During this period, she also completed a 3-year Master's in Genomics, with a focus on Cardio-genomics, at Imperial College London, and established the foundation for a Pediatric Brugada International Registry.
In 2022, Cecilia relocated to Montreal, where she currently holds the clinical position of Lead of Pediatric Electrophysiology at Sainte-Justine Hospital and a professorship and research position at the University of Montreal.
Her work is driven by a commitment to excellence in patient care, particularly in developing expertise in inherited cardiac conditions in the region. Teaching is one of her passions, as she believes it is essential for passing on the knowledge and experiences she has gained from her own mentors, thereby contributing to the betterment of society.
Ms Jane Draper
Jane is a registered Clinical Scientist in Cardiology specialising in Echocardiography. Throughout her career she has expanded roles and incorporated advanced clinical practice into cardiac physiology. She currently leads physiology services for inherited cardiac conditions, heart failure and cardio-oncology at Guys and St Thomas’ hospitals. She has successfully introduced a number novel clinics into the department including a screening clinic for family members with inherited cardiac conditions and a service for the management of left ventricular outflow obstruction.
Ms Catherine Fowler MBA BSc BCAh
Catherine is a trustee of the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust. She is a relentless campaigner to improve diagnosis for aortic dissection following the loss of her father to an undiagnosed aortic dissection in 2015.
As co-creator and former lead of a highly successful national campaign, which has been a catalyst for change in first responder and emergency medicine, Catherine has appeared on national radio, television and at medical conferences throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe.
Catherine is currently the patient and public voice partner (PPV) of the NHS Cardiac Clinical Reference Group (CRG), the Cardiac Pathway Improvement Programme (CPIP) acute workstream and the Cardiac Clinical Policy Unit.
Dr Brian Halliday
Dr Halliday is a Consultant Cardiologist at Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals and Clinical Senior Lecturer and British Heart Foundation Intermediate Fellow at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London. He specialises in cardiomyopathy and cardiovascular magnetic resonance.
His research interests focus on improving the treatment of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy at different stages of disease.
Professor Juan Pablo Kaski
Professor Juan Pablo Kaski MD(Res) FRCP FESC Juan Pablo Kaski is Professor of Paediatric Inherited Cardiovascular Medicine at the UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science, where he leads the UCL Centre for Paediatric Inherited and Rare Cardiovascular Diseases, and Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), London, UK. He is the Director of the GOSH Centre for Inherited Cardiovascular Diseases. His clinical and research interests are focused on the clinical and genetic characterisation of cardiomyopathies and other inherited cardiovascular disease and sudden cardiac death in childhood.
He is Secretary/Treasurer of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Council on Cardiovascular Genomics and past Chair of the Association for European Paediatric Cardiology (AEPC) Working Group on Genetics, Basic Science and Myocardial Disease. He leads an international paediatric HCM consortium of over 65 centres, which was responsible for the development of the first sudden death risk prediction model for childhood HCM. He chaired the Task Force for the 2023 European Society of Cardiology Cardiomyopathy Guidelines.
Professor Pier Lambiase PHD FRCP FHRS
Professor Lambiase graduated from Oxford University in 1992. He undertook a PhD examining heart muscle protection at St Thomas’ Hospital winning the Young Investigator Award of the British Cardiac Society for his research in 2002 and was a finalist in the NASPE Young Investigator competition in the same year. He received the British Cardiovascular Society Michael Davies Early Career Award in 2015. He sits on the BCS Academic Programme Committee & was British Heart Rhythm Society Research Committee Chair & is the Co-lead for Cardiovascular Research at Barts Heart Centre.
He is Chief Investigator for an International Registry of the Subcutaneous ICD (JACC 2015, EHJ 2014, 2022) & CRAAFT HF Trial of atrial fibrillation ablation in heart failure funded by British Heart Foundation (BHF). He co-authored the 2022 European Society Guidelines on treatment of ventricular arrhythmias & prevention of sudden cardiac death
He has published widely on heart rhythm disorder mechanisms in specific inherited conditions and co-authored/advised national & international guidelines on genetic diagnosis as well as sudden death prevention (JACC 2015-2016, ESC 2022). He has published over 400 peer review papers and raised >£5M in grants from BHF, Welcome Trust & MRC over the past 5 years. He sits on the Editorial board of a number of journals including EHJ, Heart Rhythm and JACC EP.
He leads a biomedical engineering group to utilise heart imaging & electrical mapping data to better understand the causes of cardiac arrest and link this to the effect of the brain and nervous system on the heart that can be a trigger for these events recently establishing the UCL Neurocardiology Centre to develop this line of enquiry.
Professor Eylem Levelt
Dr Levelt is a professor of cardiology with expertise in CMR imaging at the University of Leeds, and honorary consultant cardiologist at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. She is supported by Wellcome Trust with a Clinical Career Development Fellowship (2020–2025), and by the NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre for her work which focuses on the impact of diabetes on the cardiac phenotype and clinical outcomes of inherited cardiomyopathies and valvular diseases.
She is moving to the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute from January 2025, together with an appointment as Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
Ms Debbie Mackin
Debbie Mackin, a newly appointed council member, serves as a registered Genetic
Counsellor in the Southeast of Scotland Genetic service. Her career began as a
registered nurse in critical care areas, where she developed a passion for supporting bereaved families following the sudden death of their loved one.
Debbie actively participates in the Network for Inherited Cardiac Conditions Scotland (NICCS) group and currently co-chairs the NICCS Nurses and Associated Health Professionals subgroup. Her commitment lies in shaping and enhancing collaboration among the various specialities involved in the complexities of ICC care, with a particular focus on the genetic investigation of sudden death. As part of her genetic counselling role, Debbie co-ordinates and chairs a regional ICC MDT (Multidisciplinary Team) that serves as a valuable resource for education and
collaboration across different specialities.
In her role as a council member, Debbie is looking forward to meeting and exchanging ideas with colleagues across the UK, striving to deliver best practices for families and patients living with an ICC.
Dr Emma Matthews
Dr Matthews is a Consultant Neurologist specialising in Neuromuscular disorders at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Reader in Neurology at City St George’s University of London. She is the Rare Disease Lead for the SE Genomic Medicine Service Alliance and was appointed as the Genomics CAG Director at St George's in October 2023. She is a member of FSHD UK, and Treat NMD and sits on the steering committee for the UK FSHD Registry. She is the co-chair of GeNotes Neurology.
Dr Matthews studied Medicine at the University of Aberdeen. She was awarded a PhD in Neuroscience from the Institute of Neurology, University College London before undertaking higher specialist training in neurology at the Royal Free Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN) in London.
From 2014-2020 Dr Matthews worked as an academic consultant neurologist at the Institute of Neurology, UCL funded by fellowships from the NIHR and Wellcome. She joined SGUL in 2021 funded by a Clinical Academic Research Partnership from MRC and NIHR. Her main academic interests are in genetic neuromuscular disorders. She has a particular focus on channelopathies and myotonic disorders including severe paediatric presentations and how neuromuscular excitability genes may contribute to sudden death. She established new clinical services at St George's including a transition service for young adults with genetic neuromuscular disorders and a regional myotonic dystrophy service. The Atkinson-Morley Neuromuscular service and team have been recognised with Centre of Excellence awards from Muscular Dystrophy UK and the CMT Association. Dr Matthews also established a new Neurogenetics CNS post and clinic via a transformation project funded by NHSE.
She is PI on several clinical trials in neuromuscular disorders including both natural history and interventional studies.
Ms Katharine McIntosh
Katharine is a health charity professional with ten years’ experience in policy and research work within the fields of cardiology, mental health and neurology. Her expertise encompasses building the evidence base for policy work as well as planning and executing policy influencing campaigns. She is experienced in representing patients’ interests to health bodies, including serving on a NICE Quality Standard committee and an NHS England Clinical Reference Group.
As Head of Research and Policy at Cardiomyopathy UK, Katharine leads the charity’s advocacy workstreams, ensuring that people with cardiomyopathy have opportunities to have their voices heard in relation to research, and issues affecting their treatment and care. Katharine has previously worked at organisations including The Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Neurological Alliance and the MS Society, and was Chair of Trustees as a local branch of Mind. She holds an MSc in Comparative Social Policy and a PGCert in Mental Health Practice.
Professor Saidi (Sam) Mohiddin
Professor Saidi (Sam) Mohiddin. MB ChB (Hons), BSc (1st), FRCP, FESC, MD (res).
Consultant Cardiologist in Inherited and Acquired Heart Muscle Disease and in Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
Sam trained in Edinburgh, in the USA at the National Institutes of Health, and in London. He was appointed as a consultant in 2010 and is also an Honorary Professor at the Barts Heart Centre and The William Harvey (QMUL). He was lead author of the UK national training curriculum for Inherited Cardiac Conditions and has an active role in sub-specialty education.
Current research interests include inflammatory (myocarditis) and inherited heart muscle diseases, and the use of Cardiac resonance imaging (Cardiac MRI) in the assessment of these conditions.
Dr William Moody
Dr Will Moody is a Consultant Cardiologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, with a specialist interest in cardiomyopathy and cardiac imaging. With accreditation in echocardiography, CMR and nuclear cardiac imaging, he is the cardiovascular imaging lead for University Hospitals Birmingham and the clinical lead for the Midlands Amyloidosis Service.
Following entry onto the inaugural BCS Emerging Leaders Program, he has used this opportunity to begin establishing a national amyloidosis network, with the aim of achieving earlier diagnosis and improved outcomes for these patients. After being awarded a NIHR Clinical Research Scholarship this year, his current research interests include investigating the role of novel and conventional heart failure therapies in cardiac amyloidosis.
Dr Laura Muiño-Mosquera
Laura Muiño-Mosquera is a pediatric cardiologist and cardiogeneticist affiliated with Ghent University Hospital, concurrently serving as an associate professor at the Ghent University. Her primary focus lies in inherited cardiac conditions, with a particular emphasis on heritable thoracic aortic diseases (HTAD) and cardiomyopathies.
After defending her PhD on cardiovascular features of Marfan syndrome, she continued her research aimed at unravelling the underlying cause of cardiomyopathy and arrhythmias in patients with HTAD. She is currently PI of several European projects, including MyoTAD and MyoRecMV.
She’s a member of the European Reference Network on Vascular disease (VASCERN) and presently serves as the chair of the pediatric subgroup of VASCERN-HTAD. She also contributes to the ClinGen where she coordinates FBN1 variant curation expert panel.
Laura Muiño-Mosquera actively participates in several international research consortia such as the Montalcino Aortic Consortium, the eBAV and the VALOR-cardiomyopathy. Her commitment to advancing knowledge extends to her role as an engaged member of the Marfan Foundation, where she frequently collaborates on projects pitched towards societal outreach.
Dr Francis Murgatroyd
Francis Murgatroyd is Clinical Lead for EP and Devices at King’s College Hospital, London. He graduated at Cambridge and qualified medically at Oxford in 1985. He trained in cardiology at St George’s in London and Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, and has specialized exclusively in arrhythmias for over 30 years. After a senior fellowship with George Klein’s group at the University of Western Ontario, he was appointed in 2000 as a consultant electrophysiologist at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, before moving to King’s in 2004.
Francis has a longstanding research interest in ventricular arrhythmias and defibrillation. In the 1990s he led some of first clinical studies of internal cardioversion, and in 2000-2004 worked on the early clinical studies leading to the development of the subcutaneous defibrillator. Over the last decade he has had a leading role in the development and clinical evaluation of the Extravascular ICD.
Francis has spent several years on the council of British Heart Rhythm Society, and until recently was led the UK national device and ablation audits. He now chairs the Device Working Group for NHS England Specialised Services Development Programme. He is known for teaching and research into arrhythmias and pacemaker/device therapy, and has published over 100 papers, 17 book chapters and three books in these fields.
Ms Stephanie Oates
Steph is the current GC representative for the AICC Council. She has over 16 years’ experience in cardiac genetics, in Oxford and London, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. She is currently working at Great Ormond Street Hospital as the principal genetic counsellor for the paediatric cardiology department.
Steph has a wide range of experience in the clinical setting, research, teaching, adults and paediatrics as well as charity work. Her main focus is Cardiomyopathies and Arrhythmias and promoting the unique contributions genetic counsellors can make in improving patient care, both pre and post genetic testing.
Dr Stephen Page
Stephen Page is a Consultant Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist based at Leeds General Infirmary. He has been managing patients with inherited cardiac conditions for over 20 years having undertaken clinical research in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with Professor Bill McKenna and Professor Perry Elliott at The Heart Hospital, London. He trained in Electrophysiology and Devices at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and developed his interest in inherited arrhythmia syndromes.
Stephen has been a Consultant Cardiologist in Leeds since 2013 and he leads the Inherited Cardiac Conditions Service for West Yorkshire. He sits on the Clinical Advisory Group for Cardiomyopathy UK and is a writing group member for the NHS England Service Specification. He is part of the RASE Consortium undertaking multicentre clinical research for patients with inherited arrhythmia syndromes.
He has been a member of the AICC since it’s creation and has been a Council member since 2020. He took over as President of the AICC in 2023. His priorities are in service development, aiming to offer coordinated, cost-effective, high-quality regional care in West Yorkshire and surrounding areas, and to try and replicate this across the UK through his leadership of the AICC.
Dr Kate Richardson
Kate is currently a clinical genetics specialist trainee working at the Northern Genetics service. She studied medicine at Newcastle University and completed her core medical training in the North East of England. Kate has had an interest in inherited cardiac conditions throughout her training, but recently has been able to gain further experience in this area.
Kate has a passion for teaching and has completed a postgraduate certificate in medical education. Once she has completed her training, Kate aims to become a consultant clinical geneticist with a specialist interest in inherited cardiac conditions working in the North East.
Dr Leema Robert
Leema is the Lead Consultant Geneticist for Inherited cardiac conditions (ICC) and aortopathy service at Guys and St Thomas Hospital (GSTT) and Kings College Hospital (KCH). With over 10 years of experience in clinical and cardiovascular genetics, Leema has been instrumental in leading the mainstreaming of genomics to adult and paediatric cardiovascular services.
Within our service, we have established unique roles for our BHF funded cardiac genetic nurses (CGN) that are being considered nationally. Our CGNs provide mainstreamed genetic and genomic expertise in ICC services. We have established embedded family clinics in cardiology with adult and paediatric cardiology support for diagnosis and management of patients with aortopathies. We have also led the development of different service models with the help of the Miles Frost Fund to provide care for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy closer to their home with a hub and spoke model of care.
Leema is involved in several international consortiums such as VASCERN and ClinGen. She is currently leading the development of a national rare disease collaborative network for aortopathies and arteriopathies.
Dr Nora Shannon
Nora Shannon is a Consultant Clinical Geneticist in the Nottingham Clinical Genetics Service. She was involved in setting up Inherited Cardiac Conditions Clinics in both Birmingham and Nottingham and is the Genetics Lead for the Nottingham ICC Service covering Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire.
She has an interest in service delivery and design and has particularly worked to improve access to genetic testing for families with SADS in the region. Her current research interests include factors which affect access to screening in families with aortic aneurysms.
Dr Noor Sharrack
Noor is an ST6 cardiac imaging and ICC trainee in South Yorkshire. She completed a PhD in stress perfusion CMR at the University of Leeds in 2023 under the supervision of Professor Sven Plein. She graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2014.
Noor has been recently appointed as the national AICC/BJCA ICC trainee representative. She has accreditation in CMR (EACVI), TTE and TOE (BSE).
Noor has a passion for trainee representation and education and has been an active member of the RCPE trainee and members committee for a number of years.
Prof Sanjay Sinha, MBBChir, MRCP, PhD
Prof Sanjay Sinha is a Professor of Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at the University of Cambridge. He completed medical training in Cambridge, followed by cardiology clinical training and a PhD in Manchester, UK. Prof Sinha then carried out post-doctoral studies in the USA before establishing an independent group back at Cambridge. His research group is part of the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, where he is the Deputy Director. Prof Sinha’s work combines the fields of stem cell biology and cardiovascular biology to provide new insights into human cardiovascular development and novel treatments for vascular diseases.
Underpinning his work is the development of lineage-specific differentiation protocols to obtain various cardiovascular cell types from human pluripotent stem cells. He has used these systems to establish "disease-in-a-dish" models of Marfan syndrome and other aortopathies, to screen for new treatments and to test their regenerative potential for heart repair after myocardial infarction. Finally, Prof Sinha is leading a BBSRC Cambridge-Oxford consortium (CellTalk-HHD) which has generated a detailed multi-omic and spatial atlas of the developing human heart.
Prof Sinha is also a Consultant in Cardiology, and he combines his research work with clinical duties at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, where he treats patients with a wide variety of cardiovascular diseases.
Dr Luke Starling BSc (Hons), MB BS, FRCPCH
Luke Starling is a Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist, specialising in Inherited Cardiovascular Diseases. He leads the Inherited Arrhythmia Service at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) and has a particular interest in ion channel disease and sudden cardiac death. He has established a novel neurocardiac channelopathies Service and a local left cardiac sympathetic denervation (LCSD) programme, whilst combining his role in inherited cardiovascular diseases with general paediatric and congenital cardiology.
Dr Starling studied medicine at University College London and undertook training in Paediatric Cardiology at GOSH and The Royal Brompton Hospital. When not providing a comprehensive taxi service for his children, his spare time is spent musing over Chelsea’s questionable recruitment and retention policy and watching cricket.
Dr Paz (Upasana) Tayal
Dr Paz (Upasana) Tayal is an MRC Clinician Scientist and Clinical Senior Lecturer at the National Heart and Lung Institute and a Consultant Cardiologist at the Royal Brompton Hospital specialising in cardiomyopathy. Her research group evaluates sex specific differences in patients with cardiomyopathy, with the aim of improving outcomes for all patients affected by these conditions.
She has a number of national committee and leadership roles including The Royal Society (Diversity Committee), and the British Cardiovascular Society (Programme Committee) and is a Research Editor at the BMJ.
Dr Jan Till
I work at the Royal Brompton (recently merged with GSTT) as a consultant in congenital electrophysiology. I led the initial work building an inherited cardiac conditions unit at the Royal Brompton Hospital and now lead in Inherited Arrhythmia, caring for both adults and children with channel dysfunction. I set up dedicated electrophysiology clinics for children and continue to run a busy service for both Inherited arrhythmia and paediatric electrophysiology including family clinics. I was honoured to be president of the Association for Inherited Cardiac Conditions 2020-2023.
I am lead for South East England for a national pilot study looking to streamline pathways for all victims (and families) of sudden cardiac arrest or death. I am co-chair of the writing group for the new service specification for ICC.
I have a passionate interest in raising the profile of arrhythmia, preventing sudden cardiac death in the young and identifying ways in which we can improve the care of patients and families living their lives with arrhythmia and inherited cardiac conditions.
Dr Claire Turner
Claire is a Consultant Clinical Geneticist, appointed to the Peninsula service in 2010, and is the genetics lead for the regional Inherited Cardiac Conditions service. Her MD, awarded in 2013, reflected a laboratory based molecular project on imprinting disorders.
She has a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education, awarded in 2009 and is the lead for teaching Clinical Genetics at the University of Exeter Medical School. She has numerous publications in the field of Clinical Genetics, including in inherited cardiac conditions.
Professor James Ware
James is a Professor of Cardiovascular and Genomic Medicine at the National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London; Programme Leader at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences; honorary Consultant Cardiologist at Royal Brompton Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital; and a Visiting Scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard. He graduated from the University of Cambridge, trained clinically in London & Geneva, and pursued research training at Imperial College London, Harvard Medical School, and the Broad Institute, before starting a research group at Imperial.
James’ research aims to understand the impact of genetic variation on the heart and circulation, and to use genome information to improve patient care. Working with collaborators in the UK and internationally, his team are identifying new genes and pathways underlying inherited cardiovascular conditions, developing tools to discriminate between pathogenic and benign genetic variation, and evaluating genomic biomarkers for precision medicine.
James is also Director of the national MRC/NIHR co-funded Rare Disease Research UK Cardiovascular Initiative, co-leads the cardiovascular theme of the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, and founded theHeartHive.org research participation portal in partnership with the patient charity Cardiomyopathy UK.
Clinical interests include the management of Inherited Cardiac Conditions, the prevention of sudden cardiac arrest, and the broader application of genetics and genomics to healthcare.
Dr Oliver Watson
Oliver is a consultant Cardiologist at Sheffield Teaching hospitals having been appointed in 2018. He completed his specialist training in Sheffield and South Yorkshire, completing his PhD in genetics of vascular biology during training. His specialist clinical interests are in ICC and cardiac imaging including echocardiography and cardiac CT.
Within the South Yorkshire ICC service, Oliver has a specialist interest in the development of adolescent and young person services within ICC. He is also involved in one of the national diagnostic VEDS services alongside management of other forms of aortopathy, channelopathy and cardiomyopathy.
Dr Joseph Westaby
Dr Joseph Westaby is an NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Cardiovascular Pathology at St George’s University of London and the South London Deanery. He studied Graduate Entry Medicine at The University of Nottingham and has trained in London since. He undertook an Academic Clinical Fellowship and PhD in the Cardiac Risk in the Young Cardiovascular Pathology Laboratories.
Joseph's primary research interest is Sudden Cardiac Death. He also undertakes coronial autopsies for the Inner West London Coroner.
Dr John Whitaker
John Whitaker completed his general medical and cardiology training in the London Deanery before undertaking a PhD focused on the imaging the substrate for ventricular tachycardia. He completed sub-specialty training in cardiac devices and electrophysiology at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust between 2018 - 2020, following which he undertook a fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital from 2020 - 2022.
John has been an honorary consultant in cardiology, electrophysiology and devices at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust since 2023. He is also a clinical senior lecturer. He has experience in the assessment and management of heart arrhythmias, with a particular interest in ventricular arrhythmias. He sees patients privately at Cleveland Clinic London.
Dr Eleanor Wicks
Eleanor leads the Oxford ICC service. She has longstanding specialist interests in inherited and acquired (including inflammatory) conditions, genomics, heart failure and multimodality imaging.
She studied Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. After qualifying in 2004, she trained in General Medicine, gaining membership of the Royal College of Physicians in 2009 and completed her general cardiology training at Barts Heart Centre, London. She was appointed as a Consultant Cardiologist with dual accreditation in General Medicine in 2016 and moved to Oxford in 2017.
Eleanor harnesses clinical and academic synergy via collaborative networks to help define disease mechanisms and ensure the translation of novel molecular biological and clinical research approaches into clinical practice. She utilises state-of-the-art genomics and imaging for rich phenotyping to help reveal the molecular, imaging and genetic basis of inherited and acquired heart diseases in search of improved diagnoses, risk stratification and the exploration of potential therapeutic targets in the hope of delivering personalised therapy with substantial benefits for patients.
Mission
The AICC aims to drive forward clinical standards for ICCs through education, national guidance and networks of care which facilitate equitable access to quality care irrespective of postcode.
Guidelines, Papers and Publications
The AICC hopes to publish National guidelines on the management of AICCs to facilitate the benchmarking of quality standards across the UK for ICCs. It endorses peer reviewed publications, reviews and scientific papers.
Research highlights
The AICC hopes to promote innovative research and to bring together partners to pioneer novel research in this field of cardiology and to translate these findings back into clinical practice.
Education and Training opportunities
The AICC is keen to impart knowledge to help others learn and excel. Our educational activities aim to train the next generation of doctors to ensure that patients and their families with ICCs receive the very best of care they deserve.