Coordinator
European Society of Cardiology (ESC), European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA)
Work packages
WP1 – Characterisation of comorbidities in
elderly AF patients
WP2 – Mapping clinical practices and gap
identification
WP3 – Design and development of new care
pathways
WP6 – Communication, dissemination, and implementation into guidelines
WP7 – Project management
Team
Hein Heidbuchel
John Camm
Chris Gale
Christophe Leclercq
Donna Fitzsimons
Svya Palayan
Christina Dimopoulou
Elsa Pacella
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is a not-for-profit medical society. ESC is a member-focused, volunteer-led institution whose activities are driven by healthcare professionals, for healthcare professionals, healthcare authorities and patients. The volunteers are supported by a team of ESC staff based at the European Heart House in France and the European Heart Agency in Brussels.
ESC unites 100,000 scientists, clinicians, nurses and allied professionals across all cardiology subspecialties and career stages. Today ESC counts 57 National Cardiac Societies as institutional members that help shape the future of cardiology and drive ESC activities. With its European roots and global scope, ESC have developed collaborative relationships through its 47 ESC Affiliated Cardiac Societies with cardiovascular medicine organisations worldwide to learn, share and advance the battle against cardiovascular disease. The ESC also comprises 28 cardiovascular subspecialty communities covering the full spectrum of cardiology. They include 7 Associations, 15 Working Groups and 7 Councils, enabling ESC to provide in-depth, expert knowledge to all cardiovascular clinicians and researchers.
Hein Heidbuchel, MD, PhD, FESC, FEHRA
Professor Hein Heidbuchel is leading the cardiovascular research group at Antwerp University. He is also Chair of the Cardiology department of the Antwerp University Hospital (UZA) and Guest Professor at Hasselt University. He served as President of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) from 2018 to 2020. He is still EHRA Board Member and a Fellow of EHRA and of the ESC. He published >340 articles in peer-reviewed international journals (total number of citations: 30102 on WoS; H-index: 68). Moreover, he published 31 book chapters and he is an inventor on 2 patent applications. He supervised 5 post-docs, 18 PhD students, 19 Master thesis students, and trained 27 clinical electrophysiology fellows. He has >250 active international congress participations, and >200 invited lectures. He is national coordinator of many international clinical trials and an active clinical investigator in more than 35 trials.
Prof. Heidbuchel is an international recognized expert in the field of AF. He is also the creator and lead/senior author of the Practical Guide on NOAC therapy in atrial fibrillation (2013, 2015, 2018 and 2021 edition), which formulates practical advice for physicians with more than >450.000 copies distributed worldwide. He was also a member of the 2010 and 2016 ESC Guideline Committees for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, and reviewer of the 2020 AF Guidelines.
John Camm, M.D., FRCP, FAC, FESC, FHRS
John Camm is British Heart Foundation Professor of Clinical Cardiology at St George’s University of London, London, UK. His interests include cardiac arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, stroke prevention, and anticoagulation.
Professor Camm is Editor of the European Society of Cardiology Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine and ESC CardioMed, Electrophysiology of the Heart, Clinical Cardiology and Evidence Based Cardiology. He has written or edited more than 40 books, predominantly in the field of cardiac arrhythmology. He has authored or co-authored more than 1450 peer reviewed papers, more than 500 book chapters, and in excess of 2500 accepted abstracts. He has delivered more than 1000 international lectures.
Professor Camm has been involved in the production of numerous guidelines, including the ESC guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation. He is the holder of the European Society of Cardiology Gold Medal and the British Cardiovascular Society Mackenzie Medal.
(photo)
Chris Gale, Ph.D, MEd, FESC, FRCP
(bio)
Christophe Leclercq, MD, PhD, FESC, FEHRA
Prof. Leclercq is the head of the department of cardiology at the Rennes University since 2015. He has the responsibility of a 22-beds unit mainly dedicated to cardiac arrhythmias. He is also in charge of the pacemakers and ICDs program in the department (more than 650 implantations / year) and for the clinical research unit with 7 research nurses involved in the development and approval of new implantable device therapy. Prof. Leclercq is especially involved in heart failure device therapy and is member of the steering committees of several trials (PROSPECT, B-LEFT, CHAMP, SEPTAL-CRT, ADAPTIVE-CRT,MORE CRTMPP, SMART-CRT …). He has published over 210 manuscripts and held lectures at the HRS, EHRA Congress, and ESC meetings. He is a reviewer for the major cardiology journals and member of the board of the European Heart Journal, EP Europace and Circulation. He is also a member of the executive board of the French Society of Cardiology since 2009, take on administrative responsibilities in the ESC and EHRA, including (but not limited to) Member of the ESC Board between 2016 and 2018 and since 2020. He is the actual EHRA President until August 2022.
Donna Fitzsimons, PhD
Professor Donna Fitzsimons is currently Head of the School of Nursing & Midwifery & Member of Senate in Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is a past ESC Board Member (2014-2020) where she led Patient Involvement activities and pioneered the establishment of the ESC Patient Form. She was previously an elected Councillor on the ESC Board 2016-2018 and was Chair of the ESC Council on Cardiovascular Nursing & Allied Professionals (2011-2013). As a member of the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee she has lead work on involving patients in Guideline development and review, as well as enhancing nurses’ role in Guideline Implementation. Currently she is working on projects with EAPCI, ACNAP and Digital Health.
Professor Fitzsimons’ leadership demonstrates her commitment to improving the quality of patient experience and care through education and research. Her research interests in Cardiology include prevention, patient engagement and palliative and supportive care.
Svya Palayan
Mrs Svya Palayan has a master degree in Association Management and has been the EHRA (European Heart Rhythm Association) Manager at the ESC (European Society of Cardiology), since 2008. She has also a marketing background and joined the ESC in 2003 as Coordinator international stand and promotion. At present, together with the EHRA volunteers she manages, coordinates & drives specifically related Associations projects/activities/initiatives and implement board strategies. She also ensures that the directives established by the Board of the EHRA are compliant with the guidelines of the ESC.
Christina Dimopoulou
Christina is a certified European Project Manager and has been actively engaged in the European Affairs field since 2011 with specific expertise in managing Horizon 2020 projects. She is also being engaged as a policy advisor advocating for cardiovascular health at EU level. In particular, she is seeking to disseminate outstanding scientific results deriving from cardiovascular research projects and convey strong messages calling for EU action to secure an environment favourable to cardiovascular disease.
Elsa Pacella
Elsa Pacella is EU Projects Officer at ESC. Prior to joining ESC, she worked for other Brussels-based organizations in the field of health first aid, emergency and democracy support. In her previous roles she worked on EU-funded projects, supporting the administrative work, as well as advocacy and policy work, and communications. She holds a Joint Master’s Degree in International Relations from Bologna University and Corvinus University in Budapest.