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Network Organization
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Denis Escande
European Coordinator and Nantes Center Director,
Fondation Leducq Alliance Against Sudden Cardiac Death
Director, I'institut du thorax, INSERM U533
Professor of Medicine and Physiology
Head Clinical Physiology Laboratory, Cardiologist
University of Nantes - Faculté de Médecine, Nantes, France
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Denis Escande was a giant in Clinical and Basic Cardiac Electrophysiology who died at the young age of 53 in November 2006. It was Denis Escande's vision that led to the creation of this Leducq Network.
Denis received his medical degree from Paris University. In 1981, he was awarded the prestigious internat des Hôpitaux de Paris and graduated in clinical cardiology in 1987.
In parallel with his medical studies, he started a carrier in basic research as a postgraduate and then a post-doc supported by the national institute for health (Inserm; MD - PhD program) in the laboratory of his research mentor, Edouard Coraboeuf. He left academia in 1987 to join a multinational pharmaceutical company where he managed a research team studying the pharmacology of ion channels. He returned to academia in 1991 and was appointed as full-professor at University Paris XI. In 1994, he was recruited to Nantes as professor of physiology and medicine. In Nantes, he founded a research laboratory focusing on cardiovascular disease, and this received Inserm funding in 1996 and progressed to a research department in 2000. He was the founding director of the Institut du Thorax, which coordinates all patient care, teaching, and research in cardiovascular and pulmonary disease at the Nantes University Hospital.
Denis' special interest was the physiology and pathophysiology of ion channels in the heart. At the Institut du Thorax, he created a highly-interdisciplinary program world-renowned for its expertise in a breadth of disciplines from genetic, genomic, and molecular to animal models and clinical research and care.
Denis received the Descartes-Huygens Prize 1997 from the Royal Academy of Sciences (The Netherlands) and the First Prize in Cardiology 2002 from the French Academy of Sciences. He was a member and chair of many national and international scientific committees in cardiovascular research and physiology.
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Connie R. Bezzina, Ph.D. (Amsterdam Center)
Amsterdam Center Co-Director, Fondation Leducq Alliance Against Sudden Cardiac Death
Assistant Professor, Molecular and Experimental Cardiology Group, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Dutch Heart Foundation Established Investigator
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Connie Bezzina graduated in Pharmacy at the University of Malta in 1992. She obtained her PhD from the same university in 1998 and subsequently joined the Molecular and Experimental Cardiology Group at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. In 2001 she was appointed Assistant Professor. In 2005 she was appointed Established Investigator of the Dutch Heart Foundation.
The research focus of the Bezzina laboratory is the identification of genes associated with sudden cardiac death. One line of research is the genetics of primary (monogenic) arrhythmia syndromes associated with a high risk of sudden cardiac death such as the Long QT Syndrome, Brugada Syndrome and Conduction Disease. Here genetic studies are undertaken in families with these disorders for identification of new genes. A second major line of research addresses the role of common genetic variation in susceptibility to sudden cardiac death in the context of common cardiac pathologies such as infarction and heart failure. This is done by association studies of DNA variants in large patient populations. A complementary approach that is also being followed is the identification of genetic variants controlling the relevant cardiac electrical endophenotypes such as conduction velocity of the cardiac electrical impulse and repolarization.
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Stefan Kääb, MD, Ph.D. (Munich center)
Munich associate center, Fondation Leducq Alliance Against Sudden Cardiac Death
Head of Research group on cardiogenetics, familial arrhythmia syndromes and sudden cardiac death,
Ludwig Maximilian Universität, Munich, Germany
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TITLE: Oberarzt Department of Medicine 1, Cardiology, PI Cardiogenetics Group
DEGREES: MD, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, 1993; board certified internal medicine (1998) and cardiology (2001), "Habilitation: Mechanisms of altered myocardial repolarization"in internal medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, 2004.
HONORS AND AWARDS: Abstract Travel Award, Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association (2003); Wolfgang Trautwein Prize, German Cardiac Society (2003), Paula und Richard von Hertwig-Preis for Interdisciplinary Collaborations, GSF (2006).
RESEARCH AREAS:
1) epidemiology, risk stratification and genetics of sudden cardiac death
2) population genetics of cardiovascular diseases
3) functional genetics of cardiac arrhythmias (monogenic and polygenic aspects)
4) genetic determinants of normal human electrophysiology (repolarization) and their effects on common arrhythmias (LD-based SNP association, whole genome scan)
RELATED RESEARCH PROJECTS:Population Genetics of Cardiovascular Diseases-Arrhythmia Section, National German Genome Research Network (NGFN), German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, and 01GS0499) Funding period 2001-2007 2003-2008, Genetic Determinants of Atrial Fibrillation (Atrial Fibrillation Competence Network, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, 01GI0204)
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Eduardo Marbán, MD, Ph.D. (Baltimore Center/Cedars-Sinai Site)
Baltimore Center Co-Director, Fondation Leducq for Sudden Cardiac Death
Chief, Divison of Cardiology
Department of Medicine
Michel Mirowski, M.D. Professor of Cardiology
Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biomedical Engineering
Director, The Donald W. Reynolds Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center
Editor-in-Chief, Circulation Research
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
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Eduardo Marbán's professional career is dedicated to understanding disorders of cardiac rhythm and pump function, and to developing novel treatments based upon fundamental insights into mechanism. A native of Havana, Cuba, Dr. Marbán came to this country with his parents at the age of six as a political refugee. He earned his B.S. in Mathematics from Wilkes College in Pennsylvania, and then attended the Yale University School of Medicine in a combined M.D./Ph.D.program. Dr. Marbán was an intern and medical resident on the Osler service at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and then completed his cardiology fellowship there.
Appointed to the Johns Hopkins University faculty as Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine in 1985, Dr. Marbán reached the rank of Professor in 1991. In 1998, Dr. Marbán became director of the newly-established Johns Hopkins Institute of Molecular Cardiobiology, an inter-departmental program designed to foster fundamental research into the workings of the heart. Dr. Marbán was honored as the first faculty member, in 1998, to occupy the Michel Mirowski, M.D. Professorship in Cardiology. This endowed chair honors Dr. Mirowski, the inventor of the automatic implantable defibrillator. In 2003, Dr. Marbán became the Chief of Cardiology at Johns Hopkins; he also directs the Donald W. Reynolds Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center at Johns Hopkins, a $24 million 4-year program focused on identifying novel risk factors for sudden cardiac death.
Dr. Marbán has received the Basic Research Prize of the American Heart Association (AHA), the Research Achievement Award of the International Society for Heart Research, and the Distinguished Service Award of the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences of the AHA. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Circulation Research, the world's leading journal of cardiovascular investigation.
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Robert J. Myerburg, MD (Miami Center)
Miami Center Director, Fondation Leducq for Sudden Cardiac Death
Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Division of Cardiology
American Heart Association Chair in Cardiovascular Research
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida USA
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Dr. Myerburg joined the faculty of the University of Miami School of Medicine in 1970 as Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Physiology, and Chief of the Cardiology Service at the Miami Veterans Administration Hospital. Three years later, he was appointed Director of the Division of Cardiology for the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital, a position that he held for 31 years, from September 1, 1973 until August 31, 2004. He achieved the rank of Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Physiology in 1974, and holds the American Heart Association Chair in Cardiovascular Research at the University of Miami.
During his career, Dr. Myerburg has authored or co-authored more than 400 refereed articles published in scientific journals, more than 125 chapters published in books or monographs, and more than 325 scientific abstracts presented at major national or international meetings. He has written the chapter on "Cardiac Arrest and Sudden Cardiac Death" in Braunwald's textbook, Heart Disease, and the chapter on "Cardiac Arrhythmias and Conduction Disturbances" in Hurst's textbook, The Heart. He received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the American Heart Association in 1991, the Michel Mirowski Award for Cardiac Electrophysiology from the John Hopkins University in 1996, the Research Achievement Award of the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology in 2000, and the Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award from the University of Miami in 2001. In addition to his research activities, Dr. Myerburg has been responsible for the clinical programs in cardiovascular medicine on the University of Miami Medical Campus and educational programs for postgraduate training in cardiovascular medicine. He has served on the Medical School Council, Scientific Awards Committee of the School of Medicine, Finance Committee and Governing Board of UMMG, and the Academic Personnel Board of the University.
Dr. Myerburg has been active in national and international scientific and public service committees throughout his career, including service on scientific review committees (Study Sections) of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the American Heart Association, scientific program committees of the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, and examination writing committees of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He has been elected into the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and served as President of the Association of University Cardiologists, the Association of Professors of Cardiology, and the Association of Sub-Specialty Professors. He is currently president of the CARE (Cardiac Arrhythmias Research and Education) Foundation, a non-profit organization focusing on public and professional education and research in sudden cardiac death.
Throughout his career, Dr. Myerburg's research and clinical interests have focused on cardiac rhythm disturbances and sudden cardiac death. He and his colleagues have contributed to the knowledge base in cardiac electrophysiology through studies in normal hearts and in experimental models of abnormal conditions. His work has included studies of the physiology of the normal and abnormal intraventricular conducting system, activation patterns of normal and abnormal muscle, and pathophysiologic mechanisms for cardiac arrhythmias induced in experimental models of coronary artery disease. The studies have ranged from the electrophysiology of single cells and ion channels, to isolated multicellular preparations and intact hearts. He and his colleagues have described local and regional differences in cardiac electrophysiology, and integrated the alternations observed at a cellular level to concepts of intact heart electrophysiology. In parallel with the experimental studies, Dr. Myerburg and his clinical colleagues have carried out extensive studies on the clinical profile of individuals at risk for sudden cardiac death and survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. These studies have included epidemiologic characteristics, clinical predictors, and the effects of various interventions on responses to cardiac arrest and its prevention. They have also contributed to clinical information on forms of heart rhythm disturbances which are not life-threatening.
In recent years, the interests of Dr. Myerburg and his colleagues have expanded into new directions, including paradigms for predicting and responding to cardiac arrest in the community and the application of clinical genetics to the problem of sudden cardiac death. In the former, the activities have resulted in broadened use of portable defibrillators in new emergency vehicle strategies, such as the deployment throughout the Miami-Dade County police department, and attempts to increase awareness of the importance of screening for risk of sudden death among adolescents and young athletes. In the genetic field, they have established a Cardiovascular Genetics Center on the University of Miami campus, in conjunction with the Miami Heart Research Institute, dedicated to clinical applications, as well as research into new methods of genetic testing for cardiovascular disorders. In addition to his research activities, Dr. Myerburg has been responsible for the clinical programs in cardiovascular medicine on the University of Miami Medical Campus and educational programs for postgraduate training in cardiovascular medicine.
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Bio-Sketch :  roden.pdf
Literature Search |
Dan Roden, MD (Nashville Center)
American Coordinator and Nashville Center Director, Fondation Leducq for Sudden Cardiac Death
Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology
William Stokes Professor of Experimental Therapeutics
Director, Oates Institute for Experimental Therapeutics
Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Personalized Medicine
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Dan Roden received his M.D.C.M. degree and training in Internal Medicine from McGill University, and post-doctoral training in Clinical Pharmacology and Cardiology at Vanderbilt. He has been a member of the faculty in Pharmacology and Medicine at Vanderbilt since 1981. Dr. Roden's career-long interest has been the genetic, molecular, and clinical mechanisms of arrhythmias, and the basic and clinical pharmacology of antiarrhythmic drug therapy. In particular he has made important contributions in understanding mechanisms underlying variability in arrhythmia susceptibility and variability in drug effects, including studies of the genetics of drug metabolism, the role of active drug metabolites in modulating variable drug actions, and proarrhythmia mechanisms.
Dr. Roden directs the Vanderbilt site of two NIH-sponsored networks: (1) the Pharmacogenomics of Arrhythmia Therapy (PAT) program, the Vanderbilt site part of the NIH Pharmacogenetics Research Network (http://www.pharmgkb.org/network/members/pat.jsp). (2) The Vanderbilt Genome Electronic Record project, part of the recently formed Genome Institute Electronic Medical Records initiative. Dr. Roden served as Director of the Vanderbilt Arrhythmia Service, director of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology (1992-2004), and in 2006 was named Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Personalized Medicine.
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Jean-Jacques Schott, Ph.D. (Nantes Center)
European Coordinator and Nantes Center Director, Fondation Leducq Alliance Against Sudden Cardiac Death
Senior Research Scientist, I'institut du thorax, INSERM U533
Head of Research Group on molecular genetics, cardiac arrhythmias and valvular heart disease
University of Nantes - Faculté de Médecine, Nantes, France
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Jean-Jacques Schott, graduated as a Biotech Engineer in 1990 (ESBS, Strasbourg). He obtained his PhD in 1996 at the University Louis Pasteur Strasbourg, France. After a two year training period in the Seidman Lab, as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, Boston he was appointed established researcher at the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm) in 1998. In 2006 he became the leader of the team "Clinical and molecular genetics" at Inserm unit 533 in Nantes. His research is focused on cardiovascular genetics in the context of sudden cardiac death, cardiac arrhythmias and degenerative diseases. A large number of our current projects deal with rare diseases with a special focus on late onset diseases.
Since 1992 major research projects have focused on identification of new genes in the field of inherited cardiac arrhythmias, especially the long-QT syndrome, conduction disease, atrial fibrillation and idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (Brugada syndrome). More recently additional research project have been initiated in the field of degenerative valvular diseases (mitral valve prolapse and calcific aortic stenosis). Strategies developed to achieve these goals are essentially based on whole genome approaches such as reverse genetics for monogenic diseases or epidemiogenetic strategies for late onset disease.
A second line of research aims to address genetic susceptibility to SCD in the general population. Our hypothesis is that the risk for SCD is genetically modulated by key pathways and becomes manifest in the face of environmental triggers such as myocardial ischemia, drugs, or heart failure.
Dr. Jean-Jacques Schott has received the Edouard CORABOEUF prize in 2003. He is member of various national scientific board and committees on cardiovascular research.
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Eric Schulze-Bahr, Professor, MD (Münster Center)
Department of Cardiology and Angiology
Hospital of the University of Münster
Münster
Germany
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Born 1965 in Kassel, Germany. Medical education from 1985-1992 in the Univ. of Göttingen, the Charité(East-Berlin) and the Harvard Medical School, Boston. Doctor thesis on a human chromosome 20-specific DNA library, Institute for Human Genetics, Göttingen. In 1996 M.D. Since 1992 education in Internal Medicine at the Univ. of Munich and the Univ. of Münster. 2002 fully trained and board certification in Internal Medicine. Since 1994 major research focus in the genetics of inherited arrhythmias, especially the long-QT syndromes and idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (Brugada syndrome). 1993-1994 laboratory visiting scientist in the Institute for Arteriosclerosis Research; in 2002 he became the leader of the working group "Genetics of Arrhythmias" at the Institute for Arteriosclerosis Research in the Department of Molecular Cardiology.
Dr. Schulze-Bahr is member of the German Cardiac Society, the European Society of Cardiology and the European Society of Human Genetics. He is active in several Working Groups of both cardiological societies. He was also winner of the Fritz-Acker-Award 2000, the Bruno-Kisch-Award 2002 and the Woldemar-Mobitz Award of the German Cardiac Society for his scientific work on the molecular bases of inherited cardiac arrhythmias. Present research interests focus of pathogenesis with emphasis on genetics, the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of inherited cardiac disorders and genetic modifying factors for disease expression.
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Peter Spooner, Ph.D. (Baltimore Center)
Baltimore Center Co-Director, Fondation Leducq for Sudden Cardiac Death
Executive Director, The Donald W. Reynolds Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
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Peter Spooner, PhD has pursued a broad career in biomedical research with many years experience in health science program management and laboratory discovery at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD and most recently in the Division of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins University Department of Medicine as Executive Associate Director for the Donald W Reynolds Clinical Cardiovascular Center. He joined the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolism and Diabetic Diseases, NIH, in 1974 working on control mechanisms in ion transport and lipid metabolism.
In 1980, he moved to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) where he held multiple positions, most notably as Director for Extramural Programs in Arrhythmia, Ischemia and Sudden Cardiac Arrest Research. He has broad experience in the development and operations of basic and clinical research and was involved in a wide variety of internal NIH activities. Administrative interests have been in developing the interface between clinical and basic studies, design of large multidisciplinary research centers, peer review and research support mechanisms. He has been active in public interest health organizations and has contributed to their leadership and activities in multiple capacities.
Dr. Spooner has long-established collaborations and personal relationships with medical, academic, industry and voluntary health leaders and organizations in Washington, across the U.S., Europe and Australia. He has worked abroad and remains active in international collaborations.
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Arthur Wilde, MD, Ph.D. (Amsterdam Center)
Amsterdam Center Co-Director, Fondation Leducq for Sudden Cardiac Death
Professor, Divison of Cardiology
Chair, Department of Clinical and Experimental Cardiology
Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam/Interuniversity Cardiology Institute of the Netherlands, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Arthur AM Wilde is born in 1956 and obtained his MD at the University of Amsterdam in 1983. His thesis entiteld "Myocardial ischemia and hypoxia, Cellular ionic and electrical activity" (1988) was based on experimental work performed in the laboratory of Experimental Cardiology (University of Amsterdam) and the Physiological Institute (University of Bern, Switserland). He became a cardiologist in 1994 (Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam) with subspeciality Electrophysiology (Academic Hospital Utrecht).
In 1995 Dr. Arthur Wilde was appointed as Clinical Established Investigator of the Dutch Heart Foundation. The grant was used to initiate the molecular genetic analysis of primary arrhythmia syndromes that has been a major research line eversince. The molecular genetic basis of arrhythmia syndromes has been implicated in basic and clinical studies concerning the origin, mechanisms and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. In 1999, he was appointed as head of the department of Experimental Cardiology and in 2000 as professor of Cardiology. From 2003 onward he is heading the department of Clinical and Experimental Cardiology of the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam.
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