Cardiovascular Clinical Academic Group
St. George's, University of London
St. George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Sanjay Sharma is Professor of cardiology and head of research for the clinical academic group at St George’s University of London and St George’s NHS Foundation trust. His research interests include sudden cardiac death in the young, heart muscle disease and cardiovascular adaptation in athletes for which he has developed an international reputation culminating in over 240 PubMed citations and authorship of numerous textbooks. He regularly lectures at major scientific meetings and is considered a world leader in his field.
Professor Sharma leads a large tertiary inherited cardiac diseases programme serving South East England to manage young patients with cardiomyopathy and ion channel diseases. He is the director for the largest sports cardiology unit in the UK which is responsible for athletes with potentially serious cardiac diseases including amateurs but also professionals from a number of sporting organizations including the English Football Association, rugby league, Lawn Tennis Association, English Institute of Sport, Team GB Rowing and Team Sky cycling. He is the medical director of the London marathon and has been commended for providing one of the best medical services for endurance events in the world. Professor Sharma is also the chairman of the expert cardiology consensus panel for the English Football Association and for the 2012 London Olympics, he was appointed lead cardiologist. Until recently, he was chairman of the ESC sports cardiology nucleus and congress programme committee member of the European Society of Cardiology and the European Association of Preventive Cardiology.
Working with the charitable organisation, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) for the past 20 years, Professor Sharma leads the largest cardiac screening programme in the UK for individuals aged 14-35 years old. The charity screens over 20,000 individuals each year from which several data sets have been developed to provide an estimate of the number of young individuals dying suddenly from unsuspected heart disease and offer strategies to prevent such tragedies. His role in promoting the detection of cardiac disease in the young has been recognised within the British government where he gives an annual address at the CRY Parliamentary Meeting.
Professor Sharma leads a large research group based at St.George’s, University of London and the publications generated from his expertise have helped further our understanding of the athlete’s heart on a global scale. Not only has he contributed to European scientific position statements and recommendations for sporting participation in athletes with cardiac disease, but he was lead author of the international recommendations for the interpretation of the athlete’s ECG that were co-published in EHJ and JACC in 2017. His reputation as a world-renowned leader in this subject has most recently been highlighted by reporting the outcomes of screening adolescent athletes in NEJM, which has helped shape screening policies of sporting organizations in the UK and beyond.
University of Padova, Italy
Full Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Cardiac Thoracic and vascular Sciences, University of Padova
Director of the Inherited Arrhythmic Cardiomyopathy Unit, School of Cardiology of the University of Padova
Director of the Master Course in Sports Cardiology, University of Padova
Past-President Section of Sports Cardiology of the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation – European Society of Cardiology
Past-Chairman of the Italian Society of Sports Cardiology
More than 350 peer-reviewed publications in International Cardiological Journals and official reviewer of the majority of Cardiological Journals
Invited Faculty to Major European and North-American Centres and Symposia.
Fellow and Member of Italian and European Societies of Cardiology.
Cardiovascular Clinical Academic Group
St. George's, University of London
St. George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Papadakis is an Assoc Professor in Cardiology at St George’s, University of London. He is the president-elect for the European Association of Preventive Cardiology and the past chair of the European section of Sports Cardiology and Exercise. He is consultant to the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, English Institute of Sport, English and Wales Cricket Board and Rugby Football Union. His interests include sports cardiology, inherited cardiac diseases, cardiovascular disease prevention including prevention of sudden cardiac death in young and athletic individuals, heart failure and cardiac imaging. Dr Papadakis is currently credited with more than 100 publications in peer reviewed medical journals and numerous presentations in national and international conferences. He has contributed to international projects, including the creation of the Sports Cardiology curriculum, the criteria for the interpretation of the athlete’s ECG and the exercise guidelines in individuals with heart disease. In 2016 he launched a novel MSc degree in Sports Cardiology.
Institute of Sport Medicine and Science CONI, Rome, Italy
Chief of Cardiology of the Institute of Sports Medicine of the Italian National Olympic Committee.
Area of Expertise
Assessment of left ventricular hypertrophy and cardiac remodelling induced by exercise conditioning and deconditioning.
Criteria of differential diagnosis of athlete’s heart from structural cardiac disease. Implementation and methods of preparticipation screening for cardiovascular disease at risk of sudden death in athletic populations.
Clinical management of athletes with cardiovascular diseases.
Academic Appointments
Professor of Patho-physiology in Sports Medicine, at Post-Graduate School in Sports Medicine La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Adjunct Professor at the Tuft University, Cardiology Department, Boston, MA
Publications
Author of over 200 papers published on peer-reviewed journals (including New England Journal of Medicine, Journal American Medical Association, Circulation, Journal American College of Cardiology, American Journal of Cardiology, European Heart Journal, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, International Journal of Sport Medicine).
Reviewer
Reviewer for the journals: The Journal of American Medical Association, Circulation, The Journal of American College of Cardiology, the American Journal of Cardiology, European Heart Journal, European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise; International Journal of Sport Medicine.
University of Washington in Seattle, USA
Dr. Jonathan Drezner is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Director of the UW Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology at the University of Washington (Seattle, WA – USA). He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Sports Medicine, and he is Team Physician for the Seattle Seahawks (NFL), OL Reign (NWSL), and the University of Washington. Dr. Drezner is past-President of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (2012-13) and Director of the Division for Cardiac Injury in Sport for the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. Dr. Drezner has dedicated his career to the prevention of sudden cardiac arrest and death (SCA/D) in young athletes and the development of effective models for prevention. His primary research focuses on the incidence and etiology of SCA/D, cardiovascular screening and ECG interpretation in athletes, and emergency response planning and the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the school and athletic settings.
Affiliations:
Jonathan Drezner, MD
Professor, Department of Family Medicine
Director, Center for Sports Cardiology
University of Washington – Seattle, USA
General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts
Dr. Meagan M. Wasfy MD MPH is a sports cardiologist in the Cardiovascular Performance Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She trained in internal medicine and cardiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Wasfy’s clinical practices focuses on the cardiovascular care of athletic and active individuals and on echocardiography. Dr. Wasfy is also active in research, with a focus on the use of cardiac imaging to characterize exercise-induced cardiac remodeling and the specific question of how to better distinguish between cardiac enlargement due to exercise versus that due to cardiac disease.
St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
André completed a PhD at St Vincent’s / University of Melbourne and 4 years of post-doctoral research at the University Hospital of Leuven, Belgium. His research and clinical work focuses on the effect of exercise on the human heart. He studies the range of health from severe heart and lung disease to elite athletes.
André leads a young team of researchers in Sports Cardiology and heads the National Centre for Sports Cardiology based at St Vincent’s Hospital. He has pioneered novel imaging techniques including exercise cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and contrast echocardiography. He has more than 200 peer-review publications and text-book chapters and is regularly invited to present at all major international cardiology conferences.
Cardiovascular Clinical Academic Group
St. George's, University of London
St. George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Finocchiaro completed his undergraduate training and qualified from Trieste University (Italy) in 2007. He completed his fellowship in Cardiology in Trieste in April 2012, with particular interest in cardiomyopathies. He then spent one year at Stanford University (CA, US), focusing on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and athlete’s heart, gaining a post-doctoral diploma in 2013. Subsequently he worked at The Heart Hospital imaging center (London) learning about cardiovascular magnetic resonance. He recently completed his PhD at St George’s University of London, publishing several papers in the field of cardiomyopathies and sports cardiology. He is now consultant cardiologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London. His main fields of interest are sudden cardiac death, cardiomyopathies and cardiac adaptation to exercise.
Cardiovascular Clinical Academic Group
St. George's, University of London
St. George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Bhatia qualified from the Norwich Medical School with distinction in basic science research in 2011. He was awarded an open scholarship for the duration of his studies in view of academic performance. Dr Bhatia’s cardiology training to date has been diverse with competencies developed in sports cardiology, inherited cardiac conditions, cardiovascular imaging, and interventional cardiology. He is currently undertaking a higher research degree under the guidance of Dr Michael Papadakis & Professor Sanjay Sharma as a Cardiac Risk in the Young research fellow, at St. George’s, University of London. His primary research interests include evaluating the role and efficacy of cardiovascular screening in individuals aged 14-35 years, which incorporates the challenges and opportunities catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He leads the principles of cardiovascular evaluation of athlete’s module for the novel Sports Cardiology MSc, held at St. George’s, University of London. Outside of medicine, Raghav is a proud husband and father. He enjoys spending time with his family & friends, travelling, and all things cricket!
Emory Healthcare, United States of America
Dr. Kim is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Chief of Sports Cardiology in the Division of Cardiology and Orthopedics at Emory University and additionally holds an adjunct Professorship in the School of Applied Physiology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his Bachelor of Science at Emory and was a Fulbright Scholar before attending Vanderbilt Medical School. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine/Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital and cardiology fellowship at Emory (Dr. Kim was chief fellow at Emory 2013-14). In addition to his clinical role, Dr. Kim conducts NIH-funded sports cardiology research at Emory. He is the Team Cardiologist for the Atlanta Falcons, Braves, Hawks, Dream, Sports Medicine at Emory and Georgia Tech, and is a member of the NBA and NFL Cardiac Advisory Committees and the American College of Cardiology’s Sports and Exercise Council.
Academic Affiliations:
1. Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine and Emory Clinical Cardiovascular Research Institute
2. Georgia Institute of Technology, Sports Medicine and School of Applied Physiology
University of Padova, Italy
Short bio: Dr Alessandro Zorzi, MD, PhD is assistant professor of cardiology, Department of cardiac, thoracic and vascular sciences, and public health; university of Padova and consultant cardiologist at the azienda ospedaliera-università Hospital, Padova, italy”. His main clinical activities and scientific interests are clinical electrophysiology and sports cardiology. He is fellow of the European Society of Cardiology and member of the board of the Italian Sports Cardiology Society. He is co-author of 150 publications in journals with impact factors. Dr Alessandro Zorzi, MD, PhD is assistant professor of cardiology, Department of cardiac, thoracic and vascular sciences, and public health; university of Padova and consultant cardiologist at the azienda ospedaliera-università Hospital, Padova, italy”. His main clinical activities and scientific interests are clinical electrophysiology and sports cardiology. He is fellow of the European Society of Cardiology and member of the board of the Italian Sports Cardiology Society. He is co-author of 150 publications in journals with impact factors.
My affiliation: Department of cardiac, thoracic and vascular sciences and public health; university of Padova, Italy.
Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS Department of Cardiomyopathy and Cardiac Arrhythmias of Genetic Origin Milan
Dr. Castelletti graduated in Medicine cum laude at the University of Pavia, where she has also passed the board examination cum laude and became a Specialist in Cardiology. She then moved to London for a fellowship in cardiomyopathies and cardiac MRI imaging at the University College of London. Currently she is a Cardiologist Consultant at the IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano of Milan in the Department of Cardiomyopathy and Cardiac Arrhythmias of Genetic Origin. Her interests include prevention of sudden cardiac death, sports cardiology, inherited cardiac diseases, genetics. She is an ESC Fellow, nucleus member of the Sports Cardiology Section of the EAPC, of the Italian Society of Sports Cardiology and of the working group of Inherited Cardiac Disorder of the Italian Society of Cardiology, board member of the ESC Committee for Young Cardiovascular Professional as representative of the YC of the ESC WG on Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases, chair of the EAPC Membership Committee, Social Media Editor of the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, ESC Social Media Editor leader.
National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial
College and Royal Brompton Hospital, London
Sabiha works as a full-time consultant cardiologist at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London in the Inherited Cardiac conditions service and CMR imaging unit and is the lead for the Sports Cardiology service.
Sabiha continues her work as a CRY Cardiologist and is an active member of the CRY pre-participation screening programme in athletes. She has successfully published her work on mechanisms in Left ventricular Hypertrabeculation in Circulation journal. Her other peer-reviewed publications include work relating to Left ventricular hypertrabeculation in Athletes published in Heart, and ECG guidelines in athletes, published in European Heart Journal and recently aortic dimension in athletes in Heart. She also co-authored a land-mark study on cardiac screening in adolescent athletes in the NEJM. More recently, Sabiha is a member of the EAPC sports cardiology section nucleus and has also been a member of the expert task force for the ESC guidelines in sports cardiology and exercise in individuals with cardiovascular diseases. She has presented in several plenary sessions at the ESC, EuroEcho, EuroPrevent and ACC. Sabiha worked as the Deputy Editor for education and training for the EHJ-Case Reports and was also the Section Editor for the EAPC sports cardiology quizzes. She is currently leading on the certification program for ESC Preventive Cardiology.
Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Sanz de la Garza graduated in Medicine cum laude at University of Oviedo, Spain in 2007. Then, she moved to Barcelona where she did her specialization in cardiology at Hospital Vall d’Hebron (2008-2013). Right after, she performed a three-year fellowship in sports cardiology in Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and developed her PhD focused on the cardiac remodelling induced by endurance training. In 2016, she did a 6-month research stay in cardiac rehabilitation at Montreal Heart Institute (Canada). Since 2017, she is a consultant cardiologist at Hospital Clinic of Barcelona where she is in charge of the cardiovascular preparticipation screening of Football Club Barcelona and leads the cardiac rehabilitation unit. Her main interests include sports cardiology, cardiac imaging, and cardiac rehabilitation. She has published extensively in these areas and she is a frequent speaker at national and international congresses. For the EAPC, she is a nucleus member of the Sports Cardiology and Exercise Section and Young Ambassador of Spain.
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Elena Cavarretta is a MD, PhD from Sapienza University of Rome, with a PhD dissertation on “New diagnostic tools for left ventricular hypertrophy: biomolecular and echocardiographic techniques”. Since 2011, she has been serving as Researcher/Assistant Professor at the department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnology, Sapienza University of Rome. She obtained the national scientific qualification as Associate Professor in: Internal Medicine, Sports Sciences and Exercise and Full Professor in Applied Medical Technical Sciences. At present she is the elected secretary of the European nucleus of the Sports Cardiology and Exercise, European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) and a board member of the Italian Society of Sports Cardiology (SIC Sport). She is involved in cardiovascular clinical and translational research. In particular, dr. Cavarretta’s scientific interests are cardiovascular adaptation to exercise, athlete’s heart, cardiovascular non-invasive imaging, machine learning, oxidative stress and microRNAs as biomarkers in cardiovascular pathologies, in particular cardiomyopathies. She is the author of >90 indexed papers. She is the recipient of several awards and grants, including national research project. She is the Deputy Editor for the Preventive Cardiology section of the EHJ-Case Report and Deputy Editor for Minerva Cardiology Angiology.
Wythenshawe Hospital and Manchester Royal Infirmary
Dr. Aneil Malhotra PhD, MB, BChir, MA (Cantab), MRCP (UK), MSc (Medical Leadership). Aneil is the Presidential senior lecturer at the University of Manchester and consultant cardiologist at Wythenshawe and Manchester Royal Infirmary Hospitals.
He graduated from the University of Cambridge (Emmanuel College) in 2006 and having spent time at both M.I.T. and Harvard Universities in Boston, he spent his Foundation years working in Cambridge (UK) and Papworth before moving to Oxford to continue his specialist training in cardiology. Along the way, he completed a Masters in Medical Leadership at the Royal College of Physicians (2013). He completed his PhD in inherited heart diseases and sports cardiology at St. George’s University of London where he was subsequently appointed NIHR Clinical Lecturer.
Aneil’s research areas include investigating the electrical, structural and functional features of the adolescent athlete’s heart with data derived from analysing the Football Association’s cardiac screening programme, the largest of its kind for elite junior athletes in Europe. His work has achieved Young Investigator Award and best abstract prizes at international conferences including ESC Update 2019, ESC 2017, ACC 2016 and EACP 2015. He has a keen interest in medical education and has been an examiner and tutor for the Royal College of Physicians for the MRCP Part 2 (2014-2017) as well as a Module lead and Admissions Tutor for the MSc in Sports Cardiology at St. George’s University of London.
Aneil is the European Association of Preventative Cardiology young ambassador for the UK. He has over 80 peer-reviewed publications and has co-authored and contributed to books in cardiology and medicine. His ongoing research interests include sudden cardiac death in black athletes who exhibit more T-wave inversion and left ventricular hypertrophy than white athletes.
As an academic clinician in inherited cardiac conditions and MRI, Aneil aims to balance scientific rigour and workplace-based application to patients within the NHS healthcare system and influence clinical practice on a national level and beyond.
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Viviana Maestrini is an Associate Professor of Cardiology in the Department of Clinical, Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology and Cardiovascular Sciences at Sapienza University of Rome in Italy. She obtained her Medical degree and qualifications as a cardiologist at Sapienza University in Rome. Then, she undertook a PhD jointly between Sapienza and University College London (UCL) focused on CMR. She also collaborates with the Institute of Sport Medicine in Rome – National Italian Olympic Committee, which has a long tradition in promoting sport cardiology. Current her research interests include cardiac imaging and valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathies and heart failure. She is also developing a program on the role of CMR to define the complex phenotype of athlete’s heart and to prevent sudden cardiac death. She is also nucleus member of the EAPC Sports Cardiology and Exercise Section.
University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium
Clinical cardiologist with focus on sports cardiology at University Hospitals Leuven
– Assistant professor at KU Leuven, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences
– Honorary Researcher at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
– Chairman of the Medical Committee of Belgian Cycling
– Nucleus Member of the EAPC Sports Cardiology Section
– Board Member of the Belgian Working Group of Non-invasive Cardiac Imaging
His research focuses on the effects of endurance exercise on the human heart and the integration of exercise evaluation into the management of patients with cardiovascular disease. He is (co-) author of 83 scientific publications indexed in Web of Science (h-index 20). Guido has presented more than 20 abstracts at international scientific meetings as first author and is regularly invited as faculty speaker at several international meetings. He has written invited reviews and editorials in JACC Imaging, The Journal of Physiology and other high impact journals and given multiple plenary lectures on athlete’s heart at the European Society of Cardiology annual congresses.
The Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals
Dr Alexandros Kasiakogias completed his cardiology training in Athens, Greece. He then moved to London to subspecialize in Inherited Cardiac Conditions and Sports Cardiology at St George’s University Hospital. He supported and contributed to the nationwide screening program of Cardiac Risk in the Young. He has trained in Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR)
at Royal Brompton Hospital and holds level III certification in CMR. He is currently a post-CCT fellow in Adult Cardiomyopathy at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals. He holds a PhD in cardiology from the University of Athens and has several publications in prestigious
journals.
Dr. Phelan is Director of the Atrium Health Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute Sports Cardiology Center, Medical Director of Cardiovascular Imaging, and Co-Director of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center. He established and ran the Sports Cardiology Center at the Cleveland Clinic for more than 8 years before moving to North Carolina.
As director of the Sports Cardiology Center, Dr. Phelan runs a busy clinic for the cardiovascular care of athletes. As a member of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) Competitive Athlete Writing Group, he has helped write the recommendations for how to best evaluate the heart of the athlete. He is the editor of a book on sports cardiology titled, “Care of the Athletic Heart from the Clinic to the Sidelines.”
Dr. Phelan is the team cardiologist for the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Football Club and serves as the cardiology consultant to the National Football League and Major League Baseball Scouting Combines each year. He is a member of the Cardiac Screening Advisory Committee for both the NFL and the NBA. Dr. Phelan’s passion for the cardiac care of athletes extends beyond professional players to athletes of all skill levels and ages.
Dr Phelan holds numerous leadership positions in professional organizations, including roles with the American Society of Echocardiography and the American College of Cardiology Sports and Exercise Leadership Council. Dr. Phelan is Course Chair of the ACC National Sports Cardiology Conference, The Care of the Athletic Heart and is in-coming Chief Editor for the ACC Sports and Exercise website.
St Georges University of London
Dr. Sarandeep K Marwaha MBBS, BSC, MRCP graduated from St Georges University of London in 2012 with an intercalated BSc Degree in Cardiovascular Sciences from Imperial College London. Whilst in Medical school she was awarded a Welcome Trust Scholarship for Research. She completed her foundation years in South west London Frimley Park Hospital and carried out her Core Medical Training at Kings College Hospital Trust. She gained her Membership of Royal College of Physicians in 2016 and gained a National Training Number in Cardiology in East of England Deanery in 2016.
She is currently appointed as a CRY Research Fellow at St Georges University of London where her medical journey began. She conducts inherited cardiac cardiomyopathy clinics and takes part in screening for CRY.
Under the guidance of Professor Sharma she is undertaking research in Sports cardiology and cardiomyopathy.
Gaining knowledge and encouraging teaching is a keen part of her character and participating and endorsing medical education. She is the Co-Lead for the MSc Sports Cardiology programme and in her spare time she partakes in yoga and swimming.
St George’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, St George’s University of London
Prof. Maite Tome
Prof Tome is a Consultant Cardiologist and Professor of Practice in Cardiology specializing in the diagnosis, treatment, management and counselling of inherited cardiovascular diseases and the prevention of sudden cardiac death. She graduated in 1996 in Madrid at UCM and trained as a cardiologist at Hospital de la Princesa, Madrid. She completed research for her PhD studies at St George’s Medical School and UCL in London, funded by the SEC and BHF, in 2004. She became a full-time consultant cardiologist in Inherited cardiac conditions at UCLH in 2005, working at The Heart Hospital and GOSH. She has been working at St George’s Hospital since 2015, where she leads specialized Inherited Cardiac Conditions clinics and is the cardiac lead of the Inherited aortic service. She became Professor of Practice in Cardiology at SGUL in 2022. Her special interests include LVOTO, cardio-obstetrics, epidemiology and outcomes in cardiomyopathies, transition and adolescence care and genomic medicine.
Cardiac Risk in the Young Research Fellow
Dr Saad Fyyaz graduated from Nottingham University Medical School in 2013 after having completed an intercalated degree with first class honours. He completed his foundation and core training in the West Midlands before attaining Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, and subsequently commenced Cardiology Specialist Registrar training within the South London deanery in 2017. In 2020, he was successful in securing a competitive grant with Cardiac Risk in the Young in order to undertake research under the esteemed Dr Michael Papadakis and Professor Sanjay Sharma.
Outside of medicine, he is an avid Manchester United supporter, and hopes to see them return to their rightful place as the most successful club in England.
Cardiology Specialist in Boston.
Dr Aaron Baggish, MD is a Cardiology Specialist in Boston, MA and has over 20 years of experience in the medical field. He graduated from University of Connecticut in 2002. He is affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital.
Royal Brompton Hospital
Dr Androulakis graduated from University of Athens, Greece, in 2007 and moved to the UK in 2013 following his completion of PhD and his first MSc. During the following 8 years he completed his cardiology training and sub-specialization in Inherited Cardiac Conditions/Sports Cardiology and Multi-Modality Cardiovascular Imaging. His profound interest in cardiomyopathies led him to St George’s University Hospital joining Professor Sanjay Sharma’s team, doing the renowned MSc program in Sports Cardiology & Inherited Cardiomyopathy, and working for CRY performing preparticipation athletes’ screenings. He has also worked as a clinical and research fellow with the cardiomyopathy team at Royal Brompton Hospital where he is currently working. Emmanuel’s current focus is application of advanced magnetic resonance
techniques in discrimination of inherited cardiac pathology, with the ultimate goal of providing best evidence-based and individualized care in clinical practice.
Karolinska Institutet
Kristina Hermann Haugaa, MD, PhD, FESC, Head of Unit for Genetic Cardiac Diseases, Department of Cardiology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet. She is also an associate professor at the Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo.
Kristina Haugaa is the director of cardiology research at Center for Cardiological Innovation, an SFI center for research based innovation funded by the Research Council of Norway. Together with Thor Edvardsen, the center director, Haugaa is a principal investigator for center workpackage focusing on risk assessment for sudden cardiac death (SCD) and myocardial function.
Haugaa is an EHRA Scientific Initiatives Committee member, EHRA Innovation Forum member, a Scientific Committee member at European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging and the vice-President of
Norwegian Association of Cardiology. She has over 160 international scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and was awarded with an Early Career Award in June 2018 for her excellent research and leadership skills.
Dr. Haugaa is a board certified specialist in Internal Medicine and Cardiology. She finished her PhD thesis in 2010 which included electromechanical studies in patients with cardiac genetic disorders and patients after myocardial infarction. Her research is focused on developing risk stratifying tools for life threatening ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
St George’s University Hospital in London &St. George’s University of London
Eleni Nakou is a post-CCT Cardiologist subspecialized in Inherited Cardiac Conditions/Sports Cardiology and Multi-Modality Cardiovascular Imaging working currently at St George’s University Hospital in London and St. George’s University of London. She studied medicine at the University of Ioannina, Greece. After qualifying in 2005, she trained in General Medicine & completed her general cardiology training in 2016 in Greece. She is fully certified in UK and accredited in all imaging modalities (TTE, TOE, CMR, cardiac CT) and Heart Failure management by European Society of Cardiology. She is working as CRY Cardiologist assisting with the national screening programme.
She has been the principal investigator for many international research projects and she is mentoring medical and MSc students who wish to build their research experience. Her peer-reviewed publications include work relating to cardiomyopathies, heart failure management and advanced cardiac imaging.
She has presented in several national and international plenary sessions including ESC, Euro ECHO, EuroCMR. Her interests include sports cardiology, prevention of sudden cardiac death, inherited and acquired cardiomyopathies and advanced cardiac imaging.
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