General day 1: Myocardial infarction and cardiac ischaemia investigation and management strategies

Professor Nikhil Patel is an experienced Senior Consultant Cardiologist, practising at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT).

He studied medicine at the Guy’s Hospital Medical School, part of the University of London, qualifying in 1989 with an MB BS. Professor Patel conducted his cardiology training at King’s College Hospital in London (1992-1993), followed by the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford (1993), Guys Hospital (1994-96), St Thomas’ Hospital (1997-98), and Eastbourne District General Hospital (1998).

In 1999, he was appointed as the youngest Consultant Cardiologist in the country and now works mainly as a consultant at ESHT where he is the Deputy Chief of Medicine and Cardiovascular lead (stroke, diabetes and cardiology). He is a visiting Consultant Cardiologist at both Guy’s and St Thomas Trust and the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

Professor Patel specialises in general cardiology including chest pain, heart failure, hypertension and cardiac arrhythmias (atrial fibrillation and syncope). His sub-speciality expertise lies in complex pacing including cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT), internal cardiac defibrillators (ICD) and coronary intervention (coronary angioplasty and stenting). He has pioneered new technologies with his eminent colleagues in East Sussex and many of these have been featured in the media.

Professor Patel undertakes a range of educational roles, overseeing training programmes in the Kent Surrey and Sussex School of Medicine. He has co-supervised higher research degrees at MSc and PhD level and continues to undertake research into cardiac devices management, heart valve disease, exercise heart function, and areas of clinical cardiology. In 2013 he was awarded a National Silver Award in recognition of his contribution to the health service.

He was elected as Chair of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Academic Board in 2019.

Dr Francesca Pugliese is a Consultant and Reader (Associate Professor) in Cardiovascular Imaging at the Barts NIHR Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Centre (Barts Health NHS Trust and Queen Mary University of London).

Francesca trained in Genoa (Italy), Uppsala (Sweden), Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and London before taking up her current position in 2010.

Francesca has been an executive committee member of the European Association for Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI) Section Nucleus (Nuclear Cardiology and Cardiac CT), a Board Member of the European Society of Cardiac Radiology (ESCR) and a Specialist Committee Member of the NICE Diagnostic Assessment Program. Francesca is a Fellow member of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (FSCCT).

Francesca’s main research interests include aspects related to the technical optimization, clinical implementation, quality aspects and economic evaluation of non-invasive cardiac imaging, with a focus on cardiac computed tomography in a range of heart conditions.

Appointed as a Cardiology Consultant in NWAngliaFT in 2017. Trained in Manchester, Ireland and London.

Multi-modality Cardiac Imager and general Cardiologist.  My clinical focus is medically managed coronary disease, valvular heart disease, heart muscle disease and cardio-oncology. Interested in pathway redesign, collaborative working with Primary Care and training/education. On the executive committee of the BCS Imaging Council, elected BSCI Committee Member, BSE Educational Committee and BNCS Secretary. Honorary Lecturer University of Leicester Medical Students. Co-Lead for East of England Cardiac Network.