Can the treatment of patients with heart disease be improved with computational modelling?

Congratulations to Dr Paul Morris who has been awarded a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellowship for his project entitled "Computational Modelling to Improve the Assessment and Management of Patients with Coronary Artery Disease”.

Dr Paul Morris with binoculars and a can of juice out walking.

Coronary artery disease, the world’s leading cause of death, is caused by narrowings in the arteries of the heart. Patient’s treatment is most effective when based upon how much these narrowings restrict blood flow. This is challenging to measure, and rarely done, resulting in uncertain treatment decisions in around a third of patients. Paul has devised a computational method that accurately measures coronary blood flow during routine assessment. It requires no additional equipment, risk or expense, and enables ‘small vessel’ heart disease to be diagnosed; a common and important condition which is frequently missed altogether.

Paul is currently working at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in British Columbia, Canada doing a British Cardiovascular Intervention Society and Boston Scientific fellowship in coronary intervention. He is planning to commence the Wellcome Trust Fellowship in summer 2019.

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