Clinical studies on Atrial Fibrillation and stroke

We plan to conduct a series of clinical studies on a variety of areas pertaining to Atrial Fibrillation and stroke: 1. Investigating anticoagulation use from a large population data set. Areas of focus will include: a) prescription rates of oral anticoagulation b) patient adherence to oral anticoagulation c) risk factors for deficiencies in these 2 areas. d) Implementation of clinician and patient tools to improve these. Ethics approval has been given for these studies. 2. The use of mobile technologies to diagnose AF. We have published several studies in this area and plan to continue expanding this work. Devices planned to be used include the Apple Watch and Alivekor devices. The focus will be on the utility and accuracy of these devices in diagnosing AF in a variety of different patient populations. Ethics approvals for many studies are already in place. Funding has also been secured for these studies. 3. Improving the clinical management of AF. Will involve assessment of patient outcomes for those presenting in hospital with AF and developing strategies to improve these outcomes 4. Improving understanding of the underlying atrial substrate that predisposes to cardioembolic stroke. This work has been pioneered by the current PhD student. There is scope to expand on this work which has looked at echocardiographic and biomarker predictors of "atrial myopathy" that predisposes to embolic stroke of uncertain significance. Although not a requirement, if the higher degree candidate is a doctor and has completed advanced training in cardiology, they may also be considered for participation in clinical training in cardiac electrophysiology.