Inaugural Lecture: Professors Georgina Ellison-Hughes & Ronak Rajani

You can register for this Inaugural Lecture on Eventbrite.

Join us to celebrate a special milestone for our new professors and hear about their inspiring career journeys. Doors for this event will open on 16:45 (GMT), with the lectures to commence at 16:50. A drinks reception will be held after the lecture.

Professor Georgina Ellison-Hughes

What becomes of the broken hearted

Abstract

A question I often get asked is ‘How did you get to be a Professor?’ and ‘Did you always want to be a scientist?’. My inaugural lecture will be a whistle-stop tour of my journey to becoming a Professor. I will start by describing how I knew I wanted to be a scientist, followed by a discovery I made as a PhD student which catapulted me into the magnificent world of regenerative medicine. I will talk about the reality behind a broken heart - not just a cliché - and some strategies and approaches that my team are investigating to rejuvenate the regenerative capacity of the diseased and aged heart.

Biography

Over 20 years ago I followed my dream of becoming a scientist. My journey began in Liverpool with a PhD funded by the British Heart Foundation. In 2003, I was awarded a scholarship for academic excellence from the British Federation of Women Graduates which supported a lab visit to New York. I ended up staying for 5 years, being awarded a post-doctoral fellowship sponsored by the American Heart Association. I returned to Liverpool in 2008 on a Marie Curie Fellowship. I have made a seminal contribution in the paradigm shifting work to establish the adult heart as a self-renewing organ with regenerative capacity. I was thrilled to move to King’s in 2013 and then against all the odds I became a Mum; achieving our very own medical miracle.

Professor Ronak Rajani

The Career of a Clinical Academic

Abstract

Careers are often influenced by encounters with inspirational figures. As a junior doctor, I was fortunate to work with clinical academics who unveiled what could be achieved as a full-time clinical doctor. I began my research in medical school, embracing it alongside my clinical training and completing my MD thesis in valvular heart disease. Working alongside world-leading experts in cardiac imaging, I understood the potential of embracing both new developments in imaging and computer processing power. Upon return to the UK, I worked with academics in the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences on applying biomedical engineering to valvular heart disease. As my career progressed, I also developed a keen passion for teaching to make the unique opportunities I was provided with available to others. In this lecture, I will detail my personal journey towards achieving these key milestones.

Biography

Professor Rajani is currently the NIHR CRN lead for cardiovascular research in South London. Ronak was trained in all forms of multimodality cardiac imaging and was the first and only recipient of the BCS/ACC Advanced Cardiac Imaging Fellowship in 2010. He is a lead panel member for NICE and sits on the Medical Technologies Advisory Committee (MTAC) for novel CT technologies.

Ronak’s main research interests are related to valvular heart disease and the development of new imaging techniques to improve patient outcomes and clinical decision making. He has an interest in advanced plaque analysis, CT planning for structural intervention and the development of novel applications of cardiac CT with bioengineering and computer processing.

He has published more than 215 peer reviewed manuscripts in multimodality imaging as a full-time clinician with international collaborations in the US, Europe, and Asia. He has also achieved close to 5000 citations and has an H-index of 36.