Fixing the Broken Heart

In this online lecture, Professor Reza Razavi, the recipient of the Combined Royal Colleges Medal 2019, explores how medicine has benefited from new imaging technologies.

MRI, for example, now allows us to visualise the three-dimensional structures of the fetal heart and blood vessels diagnosing complex congenital heart disease, measure blood flow and muscle function at rest and, during exercise, to guide management and even turn a diagnostic machine into an interventional system to fix valve narrowing and electrical abnormalities. 

He will talk about the application of advances in engineering, physics and computer science to the field of cardiovascular imaging and how this is helping us understand physiology and pathology and changing clinical practice.

Professor Razavi will be introduced by Professor Afzal Ansary, chair of the Medical Awards committee and the RPS Medical Group. 

A Q+A will be held after the talk and questions may be emailed in advance or during the talk using the Zoom chat function. 

The recording of the lecture is available here: https://youtu.be/Qsvda_lV1To

Professor Reza Razavi holds senior research leadership positions at London’s King’s College, at King’s Health Partners and as Consultant Cardiologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. He led the development at King’s School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences in its ten-year transformation from 20 to over 400 active researchers.

His research interest is in imaging and biomedical engineering related to cardiovascular disease, and he has been awarded substantial grant income, working with industry, to deliver technologies that move into clinical products. One key area of focus is cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in relation to congenital heart disease, electrophysiology and heart failure.

Razavi is actively involved in both national and international bodies in the fields of cardiovascular imaging, including developing the curriculum for training of doctors in this area, alongside organising national and international societal meetings. He is Chair of the British Society for Cardiovascular MRI

The Combined Royal Colleges medal was established by the RPS in 1958, in collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians of London, the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which were joined in 2018 by the Royal Colleges of Psychiatrists and Opthalmologists.