PhD candidate wants to gain knowledge on familial cardiac arrhythmias at Harvard

PhD candidate Leonoor Wijdeveld (Stichting AFIP and Amsterdam UMC) has launched a campaign to raise funds for a six-month work visit to Harvard University. The acquired knowledge will benefit research into familial atrial fibrillation, for which a clinic recently opened at Erasmus MC.

Wijdeveld's research focuses on mapping genetic variations that can lead to atrial fibrillation in some families. For this purpose, she wants to work in the lab of Professor Patrick Ellinor at Harvard in Boston for six months.

Watch her call to action below:

Clinic for Familial Atrial Fibrillation

More research is needed to clarify the genetic factors associated with familial atrial fibrillation and to determine the (functional) consequences for the heart muscle cells. This can help to investigate the role of these genes in the development of atrial fibrillation. Researchers from the Medical Delta Cardiac Arrhythmia Lab opened the first clinic specifically for patients with familial atrial fibrillation in the Netherlands at Erasmus MC. This clinic is part of a national network for research into familial atrial fibrillation.

The first families have already been studied; the clinic was officially opened on Tuesday, February 14. The interdisciplinary research team working at the clinic includes electrophysiologist cardiologists, molecular biologists, clinical geneticists, and engineers from Erasmus MC, TU Delft, Amsterdam UMC, and UMC Utrecht. Stichting AFIP is also involved.

Read more about the clinic here

Read an interview with a brother and sister participating in the research here