Summary
Dr. Balvinder Handa is a Cardiology Registrar (ST5) and Electrophysiology and Devices Fellow at Imperial College London Healthcare NHS Trust. He undertook his PhD titled "The Effects of Gap Junction Coupling and Fibrosis on the Mechanism and Electrophenotype of Myocardial Fibrillation" under the supervision of Dr. Fu Siong Ng and Prof. Nicholas Peters. His research focused on the underlying mechanisms sustaining ventricular fibrillation and atrial fibrillation, and the role of fibrosis and gap junction coupling in arrhythmogenesis. During the course of his PhD he developed novel fibrillation mapping techniques using Granger causality analysis with Dr. Xinyang Li and these are currently undergoing a patent application.
His research work has been presented at multiple national and international Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology conferences (ESC, HRS, EHRA, HRC, BCS) and has been featured in the conference highlights sessions at both EHRA and ESC.
He has received numerous international travel grants and been nominated on three separate occasions for the Young Investigator Award on a national and international stage for his research work:
1) Young Investigator Award Winner, Heart Rhythm Congress 2019, Birmingham UK.
2) Young Investigator Award Finalist at the European Heart Rhythm Association Congress, Lisbon, Portugal 2019
3) Young Investigator Award Finalist at the Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome Foundation event at the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) Congress, San Francisco, USA 2019.
Dr. Handa graduated from Medicine at Imperial College London in 2011 with multiple distinctions. He was awarded a First Class (Honours) BSc degree in Cardiovascular Sciences. He completed his PhD at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London. Dr. Handa achieved the MRCP accreditation prior to starting his specialist training in Cardiology in a highly competitive training post in the London Deanery (North West Thames).
He has a strong interest in medical education, and is a lecturer on the Cardiovascular Sciences BSc course and has supervised student research projects on the course. He has published a number of chapters in academic textbooks. He has tutored junior doctor undertaking the PACES examination for MRCP accreditation and is an examiner on the CentralPaces course.
Publications
Publications
Journals
Brook J, Kim M-Y, Koutsoftidis S, et al. , 2020, Development of a pro-arrhythmic ex vivo intact human and porcine model: cardiac electrophysiological changes associated with cellular uncoupling, Pflügers Archiv European Journal of Physiology, Vol:472, ISSN:0031-6768, Pages:1435-1446
Ng FS, Handa B, Li X, et al. , 2020, Towards mechanism-directed electrophenotype-based treatments for atrial fibrillation, Frontiers in Physiology, Vol:11, ISSN:1664-042X, Pages:1-7
Handa BS, Li X, Aras KK, et al. , 2020, Response by Handa et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Granger Causality-Based Analysis for Classification of Fibrillation Mechanisms and Localization of Rotational Drivers", Circulation-arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Vol:13, ISSN:1941-3149
Handa B, Li X, Baxan N, et al. , 2020, Ventricular fibrillation mechanism and global fibrillatory organisation are determined by gap junction coupling and fibrosis pattern, Cardiovascular Research, ISSN:0008-6363
Handa B, Li X, Aras KK, et al. , 2020, Granger causality-based analysis for classification of fibrillation mechanisms and localisation of rotational drivers, Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Vol:12, ISSN:1941-3084, Pages:258-273