BCS researcher of the year

DR Prapa Kanagaratnam, below, has been named Young Researcher of the Year at the British Cardiac Societys annual conference for his research into the care of patients with heart disease.

Prapa Kanagaratnam

Dr Kanagaratnam spent two and a half years studying atrial fibrillation, the most common electrical disturbance of the heart, with a team of researchers at St Marys hospital, led by Nicholas Peters, professor of cardiology.

The St Marys team were the first in Britain to study patients with the disease who were undergoing heart surgery for other conditions. By the age of 70, almost one in 10 people suffer from atrial fibrillation.

The irregular heartbeat caused can lead to problems such as frequent palpitations in young people and strokes in older people. Despite being a well-recognised condition, the underlying causes of the electrical abnormalities are not known, with treatment rarely providing a cure.

Dr Kanagaratnam, currently a Specialist Registrar at Hemel Hempstead Hospital, explained: "Using high-resolution electrical mapping technology, we were able to directly study the electrical abnormalities at the surface of the human heart. For the first time, our work revealed that microscopic channels (gap junctions) in the tissue appeared to regulate this abnormal activity.

"We hope this breakthrough will provide impetus for the development of drugs to act on these channels, potentially helping patients affected by the condition."

Professor Peters added: "Prapa Kanagaratnam worked very hard in carrying out this important research funded by the British Heart Foundation. Winning the award from the British Cardiac Society recognises his major achievement."

*** © Imperial College 2001. This article originally appeared in IC Reporter, the staff newspaper of Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. Please contact the editor Tanya Reed (Email: icreporter@imperial.ac.uk, Telephone: +44 20 7594 6697) for permission to re-use any or all parts of this article.***