Rakesh Gopinathannair

Dr. Frank Cuoco is currently working as the co-director of Cardiac Electrophysiology and the Director of Cardiovascular Outreach for HCA Trident Health in Charleston, South Carolina. Prior to this, he served as Associate Professor in the Division of Cardiology and specializes in Cardiac Electrophysiology (EP) at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. During his tenure at MUSC, he served as both the Director of the Electrophysiology Lab and Operations and the Section Chief of Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology.

Dr. Cuoco enjoys applying the basic science principles and problem solving skills he developed in his BME studies to the complex physiology associated with the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal heart rhythms (a.k.a. arrhythmias). Dr. Cuoco’s clinical practice focuses on the treatment of arrhythmias, which includes catheter ablation of arrhythmias, structural heart procedures (including left atrial appendage closure), and implantation of pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), and other heart failure devices.

Dr. Cuoco’s research focuses on novel techniques and technology for catheter ablation procedures, as well as left atrial appendage closure devices and other cardiac diagnosis procedures. He has been amongst the top enrollers and proceduralists internationally for multiple clinical trials, including those for pulsed field ablation technology. He serves as a consultant and advisory board member for multiple biomedical technology companies focused on treatment of heart rhythm disorders.

Dr. Rakesh Gopinathannair, MD, MA, FAHA, FHRS, is currently Cardiac EP Lab Director at the Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute and Professor of Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia . Dr. Gopinathannair is immediate past Chair of AHA Electrocardiography and Arrhythmias Committee and HRS Communications Committee. He is also a member of the HRS scientific sessions program committee, AHA Clinical Cardiology Council Leadership Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, AHA Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Science Advisory Group, and served as EP Program Chair for Committee for Scientific Sessions Programming (CSSP) for AHA 2023.
Following graduation from University of Kerala, India, he completed a Master of Arts in Exercise Physiology from the University of Maryland, Internal Medicine Residency from the Hahnemann University Hospital/Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, and Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowships from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
He serves as Associate Editor for Heart Rhythm Case Reports and as section Editor for Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology. Dr. Gopinathannair has served as a writing group member and peer-reviewer for AHA/ACC/HRS and AHRQ guidelines and writing committee Chair for AHA Scientific Statements. He has published >400 peer-reviewed articles and abstract presentations, along with several book chapters, and have been an invited speaker at numerous national and international meetings. His research interests mainly focus on Arrhythmia Induced Cardiomyopathies, Atrial fibrillation and Heart Failure, COVID-19 and cardiac arrhythmias, and implantable device therapy and complex arrhythmias in patients with advanced heart failure and Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD).

Over the last 31 years I have been at Tufts Medical Center for 23 and UTSouthwestern Medical Center for 8. My clinical and research interests intersect. I am a clinician-scientist whose patients and research interest are primarily arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in various heart conditions.

Atrial fibrillation is the major arrhythmia that electrophysiologists treat and its prevalence is increasing in the US and indeed in the world. As such, it is a major part of my clinical and research activity. Clinically, atrial fibrillation ablations are one of my most common procedures. I particularly enjoy redo ablations although I hope they are redo’s from someone else and not from my prior ablation.

Academically, I have been involved with several studies of atrial fibrillation, speak frequently about atrial fibrillation and have published several articles on atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a particular interest of mine.

In my role as Associate Editor at Circulation I am responsible for handling the bulk of manuscripts on atrial fibrillation. This includes initial review and decision of whether to send out for review, reviewing after external review, and presenting them in our weekly meeting.

My other major focuses have been hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, sudden cardiac death (SCD), and in particular commotio cordis.

I have been on multiple AHA/ACC/HRS Writing Groups. I was on the AHA/ACC writing group on Atrial Fibrillation. I am currently on the Writing Group for ACLS with a publishing date in 2025.

Ravi Ranjan, M.D., Ph.D., is tenure Professor of Medicine and Section Chief of Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of Utah. He has built a large clinical cardiology and electrophysiology practice in Utah and leads a robust, extramurally funded research program (https://cvrti.utah.edu/the-ranjan-laboratory/). His research focuses on tissue- and organ-scale physiology and pathophysiology in conditions such as atrial fibrillation, atypical left atrial flutter, ventricular tachycardia, and cardiac stereotactic radiotherapy. His group integrates cardiac computational modeling, machine learning, preclinical experimental models, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, biochemical assays, electrophysiological mapping techniques, and human clinical data to study disease progression, develop treatment strategies, and advance understanding of cardiac physiology.

Professor Daniel Steven, MD, studied medicine at the University of Mainz, with additional periods of medical training in Dijon, France; Bern, Switzerland; and West Virginia, USA. He began his postgraduate training at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, where he became involved in cardiac electrophysiology early in his career. After completing his clinical and electrophysiology training, he served as a senior physician in Hamburg. He subsequently spent one year as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School with Professor William G. Stevenson, further developing his expertise in complex cardiac arrhythmias. Following his return to Hamburg, he completed his habilitation. Two years later, he was appointed Head of Invasive Electrophysiology at the University of Cologne, a position he continues to hold. His principal clinical focus and scientific interest are the treatment and investigation of ventricular tachycardia, with particular emphasis on catheter-based strategies for complex ventricular arrhythmias.

Dr. Russo is currently Professor of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Academic Chief of the Division of Cardiology, Director of Electrophysiology and Arrhythmia Services, and Director of the Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship Program at Cooper University Health Care in Camden, New Jersey. She was Past President of the Heart Rhythm Society. She has authored multiple manuscripts on a variety of arrhythmia and device topics and has been co-chair or member of various writing groups, including guideline, consensus, and appropriate use documents. In addition, she is a current Associate Editor for Circulation and Associate Editor for Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology and serves on the editorial board for several peer reviewed journals. She has also served on steering committees, events committees, and data safety monitoring committees for several clinical trials. Areas of special interest include sex differences in arrhythmias, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, atrial fibrillation therapy, and the role of digital health in arrhythmia management.

Luis Saenz, MD.
Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist.
Director of the International Arrhythmia Center at CardioInfantil Foundation, Bogota, Colombia.
Past President of the Latin-American Hearth Rhythm Society.
Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology and Global Section Editor of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology EP.
Cofounder of the International Consortium EPLIVE.
Dr. Saenz is an international recognized leader with more than 20 years of experience in the field. Coauthor of several research papers and guidelines, Dr. Saenz is frequent invited speaker to lecture about catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias that are his main topics of interest and expertise.