Risk identification and improvement of therapies for atrial fibrillation
Atrial Fibrillation Research
Our research is and has always been clinically-oriented and focused on atrial fibrillation. Patients are the centerpiece of our studies and are invited to take part on them, not only in our center but also in other partner centers. Patients are also invited to participate in advice and user committees of our studies.
Our research is focused on risk identification and improvement of therapies for atrial fibrillation, with a specific interest for those with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction. Research projects spam from early detection of patients at risk for atrial fibrillation, to investigation of novel drugs and devices, to lifestyle strategies and have led to important updates in the guideline recommendations for AF patients’ management.
Team
Prof. Dr. Michiel Rienstra and Prof. Dr. Isabelle C. Van Gelder are the group leaders and work closely together. The team consists of medical doctors (or in training), computational scientists working on their PhD theses, and several post-docs, among whom a bioinformatician who provides the statistical and bioinformatical analysis support.
For an overview of achieved results please see our publication output on the specific project pages or the pages of Principle Investigators Michiel Rienstra and Isabelle C. Van Gelder.
In depth
Our research includes diverse areas of study, starting from exploring the underlying causes of the arrhythmia, the individual’s genetic background, the circulating biomarkers and interactions that occur in every patient; towards more complex and clinical approaches trying to integrate mechanistic informatics to a personalized treatment for people at risk or with atrial fibrillation. We increasingly focus on the interaction between atrial fibrillation and heart failure, especially heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction. Our aim is to unravel all that is yet to be known about atrial fibrillation, in order to attain a better understanding of the condition; to be able to act by preventing cardiovascular outcomes or consequences derived from atrial fibrillation (e.g. stroke and heart failure) and to achieve a better quality of life for our patients.
“Atrial fibrillation never comes alone. We must learn to look not only at the electrocardiogram, but also at the whole patient”.
Work with us
We are always open to meet new people who are interested in joining our team and who share the same passion about research for patients with atrial fibrillation. We welcome professionals who would like to work on atrial fibrillation related research, as possibilities to work in our team open up frequently. Would you like know more about or apply for one of the vacancies at our research group? See all our vacancies here.
