Professor Dipak Kotecha MBChB PhD (Clinical Cardiology) PCAP MSc (Clinical Trials) FRCP FESC FHEA

Dipak Kotecha

Department of Cardiovascular Sciences
Professor of Cardiology & Cardiac Imaging
Consultant Cardiologist

Contact details

Address
Cardiovascular Sciences
College of Medicine and Health
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dipak Kotecha is a Professor of Cardiology at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, and a Consultant Cardiologist specialising in cardiac imaging.  He has completed a prestigious National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Fellowship and was awarded the British Cardiovascular Society Michael Davies Medal in 2018 for his contribution to cardiovascular medicine.  He works extensively across the 57 countries of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in education, trials and guidelines, and his research focuses on the interaction of heart failure and atrial fibrillation, supported by grants from the NIHR, British Heart Foundation and the European Union.  Dipak leads many international collaborations, with interests in public involvement, big data approaches, the application of artificial intelligence, and the use of novel technology (e.g. the group).  He is passionate about innovative yet pragmatic trial design and healthcare-embedded approaches to improve patient care.  This includes the trial (co-designed with a patient and public team), the DaRe2THINK trial (a fully remote, national, randomised trial within the electronic health record), and (an education trial taking place across 6 countries).  Professor Kotecha led the international to improve how healthcare data is used in clinical research, and is chairing the on the management of patients with atrial fibrillation.

He is Digital Trials Committee director for the newly awarded , Chair of the European Committee on Atrial Disorders, and co-leads the theme on thrombo-inflammation.

Qualifications

  • Masters in Clinical Trials, MSc 2018 (Distinction); London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of London
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, PCAP 2016 (Distinction); ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø
  • Fellow, FHEA 2015; Higher Education Academy
  • Fellow, FESC 2015; European Society of Cardiology
  • Cardiology accreditation, CCT 2014; General Medical Council
  • Doctorate, PhD 2010; Imperial College London
  • Member, MRCP 2004; Royal College of Physicians
  • Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery, MBChB 2000; University of Bristol

Biography

Dipak studied medicine at the University of Bristol and trained as a junior doctor in the south-west of England. After gaining Membership of the Royal College of Physicians in 2004 he departed for Australia to gain further clinical and academic experience. He worked as a Cardiology Registrar in Melbourne for 2 years before starting his PhD studies. Registered at the world-leading National Heart & Lung Institute at Imperial College London, the PhD was an international collaborative project with the Royal Brompton Hospital in London and Monash University in Melbourne. Dipak worked with international leaders in their fields, including Professor Marcus Flather (now in Norwich) and the late Professors Philip Poole-Wilson and Henry Krum.

After completing his PhD, Dipak re-joined the NHS in 2009 and was a clinical trainee in Oxford, specialising in cardiac imaging. During this time he continued his academic work, leading to his appointment as a Clinical Lecturer here in Birmingham, and subsequently appointment as a Clinician Scientist and Consultant Cardiologist at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust and Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. 

Dipak was awarded Fellowship of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) for his work in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease, and Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy for his teaching. In 2016, he commenced his NIHR Career Development Fellowship designed to improve patient wellbeing in those needing rate control for atrial fibrillation. His efforts were recognised in 2018 when he won the British Cardiovascular Society Michael Davies National Award for his early career contribution to cardiovascular medicine.

Dipak is an Honorary Fellow at Monash University in Melbourne (Australia), the University Medical Center in Utrecht (the Netherlands) and the Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit in Oxford (UK).

Teaching

  • MD / PhD students and research fellows in clinical and translational projects
  • Clinical teaching
  • International lectures on heart failure, atrial fibrillation, ‘Big Data’ and statistical methods

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Kotecha currently has openings for self-funded PhD students with the following attributes:

  • Medical doctors with cardiology experience
  • Skills in cardiac imaging (echocardiography, cardiac MRI)
  • Experience in IT, statistical analysis or database management
  • Motivated to produce high-impact clinical studies

Research

Heart rate control in atrial fibrillation (RATE-AF trial Birmingham)

Nine ‘hotline’ late-breaking presentations in major international conferences: 2018 [x2] HFA Congress Vienna; 2018 EHRA Congress Barcelona; 2017 [x2] ESC Congress Barcelona; 2017 HFA Congress Paris; 2015 [x2] ESC Congress London; and 2014 ESC Congress Barcelona.

Other activities

  • European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guideline Task Force on Atrial Fibrillation 2014-2016, ESC Education Committee 2016-2018 & 2018-2020, ESC Congress Programme Committee 2018-2020, ESC STEEER-AF Cluster Randomised Trial Chief Investigator (2018-2020).
  • Frequent invitations as faculty for international meetings and conferences, including the European Society of Cardiology Congress, European Heart Rhythm Association, Heart Failure Association, British Cardiovascular Society, Royal College of Physicians of London and Physicians’ Academy for Cardiovascular Education (PACE) Foundation.
  • Lead chapter author for heart failure and atrial fibrillation; ESC Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine 3rd edition.
  • Two patients awarded Patient Research Partner Scholarships to present NIHR-funded research at the International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL) conference, Dublin 2018.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Rate control Therapy Evaluation in permanent Atrial Fibrillation (RATE-AF) trial team, Abdali, Z, Bunting, KV, Mehta, S, Camm, J, Rahimi, K, Stanbury, M, Haynes , S, Kotecha, D & Jowett, S 2025, '', Heart.

van Deutekom, C, Bunting, KV, De Potter, TJR, Van Gelder, IC, Kotecha, D, STEEER-AF education leads & STEEER-AF trial steering committee 2025, '', Europace.

STEEER-AF investigators, Kotecha, D, Bunting, K, Mehta, S, Sommer, P, Sterliński, M, Rajappan, K, Mont, L, Guasch, E, Boveda, S, Boriani, G, Sun, Y, van Deutekom, C, Gale, CP, De Potter, TJR & Van Gelder, IC 2025, '', Nature.

Kotecha, D, Rienstra, M & Van Gelder, IC 2025, '', European Heart Journal, vol. 46, no. 11, pp. 996–998.

ESC Scientific Document Group, Van Gelder, IC, Rienstra, M, Bunting, KV, Casado-Arroyo, R, Caso, V, Crijns, HJGM, De Potter, TJR, Dwight, J, Guasti, L, Hanke, T, Jaarsma, T, Lettino, M, Løchen, ML, Lumbers, RT, Maesen, B, Mølgaard, I, Rosano, GMC, Sanders, P, Schnabel, RB, Suwalski, P, Svennberg, E, Tamargo, J, Tica, O, Traykov, V, Tzeis, S & Kotecha, D 2024, '', European Heart Journal, vol. 45, no. 36, pp. 3314-3414.

Gill, SK, Barsky, A, Guan, X, Bunting, KV, Karwath, A, Tica, O, Stanbury, M, Haynes, S, Folarin, A, Dobson, R, Kurps, J, Asselbergs, FW, Grobbee, DE, Camm, AJ, Eijkemans, MJC, Gkoutos, GV, Kotecha, D, BigData@Heart Consortium and the cardAIc group & RATE_AF trial team 2024, '', Nature Medicine, vol. 30, no. 7, pp. 2030-2036.

Sterliński, M, Bunting, K, Boriani, G, Boveda, S, Guasch, E, Mont, L, Rajappan, K, Sommer, P, Mehta, S, Sun, Y, Gale, CP, van Deutekom, C, van Gelder, IC & Kotecha, D 2024, '', EP Europace, vol. 26, no. 7, euae178.

Zhang, Y, Liu, B, Bunting, KV, Brind, D, Thorley, A, Karwath, A, Lu, W, Zhou, D, Wang, X, Mobley, AR, Tica, O, Gkoutos, GV, Kotecha, D & Duan, J 2024, '', Frontiers in Medicine, vol. 11, 1354070.

Majert, J, Nazarzadeh, M, Ramakrishnan, R, Bidel, Z, Hedgecott, D, Perez-Crespillo, A, Turpie, W, Akhtar, N, Allison, M, Rao, S, Gudgin, B, McAuley, M, A'Court, C, Billot, L, Kotecha, D, Potter, J & Rahimi, K 2024, '', The Lancet Healthy Longevity, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. e172-e181.

Champsi, A, Mobley, A, Subramanian, A, Nirantharakumar, K, Wang, X, Shukla, D, Bunting, K, Molgaard, I, Dwight, J, Casado Arroyo, R, Crijns, HJGM, Guasti, L, Lettino, M, Lumbers, RT, Maesen, B, Rienstra, M, Svennberg, E, Tica, O, Traykov, V, Tzeis, S, van Gelder, I & Kotecha, D 2024, '', European Heart Journal, vol. 45, no. 36, ehae539.

Linz, D, Andrade, JG, Arbelo, E, Boriani, G, Breithardt, G, Camm, AJ, Caso, V, Nielsen, JC, De Melis, M, De Potter, T, Dichtl, W, Diederichsen, SZ, Dobrev, D, Doll, N, Duncker, D, Dworatzek, E, Eckardt, L, Eisert, C, Fabritz, L, Farkowski, M, Filgueiras-Rama, D, Goette, A, Guasch, E, Hack, G, Hatem, S, Haeusler, KG, Healey, JS, Heidbuechel, H, Hijazi, Z, Hofmeister, LH, Hove-Madsen, L, Huebner, T, Kääb, S, Kotecha, D, Malaczynska-Rajpold, K, Merino, JL, Metzner, A, Mont, L, Ng, GA, Oeff, M, Parwani, AS, Puererfellner, H, Ravens, U, Rienstra, M, Sanders, P, Scherr, D, Schnabel, R, Schotten, U, Sohns, C, Steinbeck, G, Steven, D, Toennis, T, Tzeis, S, van Gelder, IC, van Leerdam, RH, Vernooy, K, Wadhwa, M, Wakili, R, Willems, S, Witt, H, Zeemering, S & Kirchhof, P 2024, '', Europace, vol. 26, no. 4, euae070.

Aiyegbusi, OL, Cruz Rivera, S, Kamudoni, P, Anderson, N, Collis, P, Denniston, AK, Harding, R, Hughes, SE, Khunti, KK, Kotecha, D, Krumholz, H, Liu, X, McMullan, C, Molony-Oates, B, Monteiro, J, Myles, P, Rantell, KR, Soltys, K, Verdi, R, Wilson, R & Calvert, MJ 2024, '', Nature Medicine.

Adasuriya, G, Barsky, A, Kralj-Hans, I, Mohan, S, Gill, S, Chen, Z, Jarman, J, Jones, D, Valli, H, Gkoutos, GV, Markides, V, Hussain, W, Wong, T, Kotecha, D & Haldar, S 2024, '', European Heart Journal - Digital Health, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 344-355.

Rienstra, M, Tzeis, S, Bunting, KV, Caso, V, Crijns, HJGM, De Potter, TJR, Sanders, P, Svennberg, E, Casado-Arroyo, R, Dwight, J, Guasti, L, Hanke, T, Jaarsma, T, Lettino, M, Løchen, M-L, Lumbers, RT, Maesen, B, Molgaard, I, Rosano, GMC, Schnabel, RB, Suwalski, P, Tamargo, J, Tica, O, Traykov, V, Kotecha, D & Van Gelder, IC 2024, '', EP Europace, vol. 25, no. 12, euae298.

Review article

ESC Scientific Document Group, Byrne, RA, Rossello, X, Coughlan, JJ, Barbato, E, Berry, C, Chieffo, A, Claeys, MJ, Dweck, MR, Galbraith, M, Gilard, M, Hinterbuchner, L, Jankowska, EA, Jüni, P, Kimura, T, Kunadian, V, Leosdottir, M, Lorusso, R, Pedretti, RFE, Rigopoulos, AG, Gimenez, MR, Thiele, H, Vranckx, P, Wassmann, S, Wenger, NK & Ibanez, B 2024, '', European Heart Journal: Acute Cardiovascular Care, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 55-161.