Professor Rod Stables Appointment

Professor Rod Stables has been appointed to the role of Clinical Lead for the British Heart Foundation Clinical Research Collaborative. This vital role will provide the essential clinical leadership to support the planning and delivery of world-class clinical research in all aspects of cardiovascular disease.

Prof Stables is consultant cardiologist at LHCH — a specialist cardiothoracic unit and, in terms of procedure volume, one of the largest cardiac units in Europe. He was the Chair of the Academic and Research Committee at the British Cardiovascular Society and holds academic appointments at the University of Liverpool and Imperial College, London.

The newly established BHF Clinical Research Collaborative aims to unite and coordinate the current clinical research efforts of the existing professional societies and clinical research groups in heart and circulatory diseases.

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, BHF Medical Director said: "I am delighted that Professor Rod Stables has been appointed as the Clinical Lead for the BHF-CRC. Professor Stables has a leading reputation for practice and research in cardiology, focused on the democratisation of clinical research, which will provide the perfect skill-set to lead this important initiative. I look forward to seeing the CRC grow from strength to strength under his direction.”

Professor Simon Ray, President of the British Cardiovascular Society, said: "I am delighted that Prof Rod Stables has been appointed as the Clinical Lead of the BHF Clinical Research Collaborative. Rod has an international reputation as a clinical trialist and has done a great job as interim lead in bringing together a diverse range of specialist groups under the umbrella of the Collaborative. Along with Chief Operating Officer Allyson Arnold, Rod will now be developing the CRC as a national focus for the generation of clinical research protocols in cardiovascular medicine." 

Prof Stables graduated in medical sciences from Churchill College, Cambridge, and read clinical medicine at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He trained in cardiology at The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, completing specialist training in 1998.

His clinical interests include coronary intervention including emergency Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PPCI), TAVI, and non-surgical septal reduction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He founded the Clinical Trials and Evaluation Unit at the Royal Brompton Hospital and led its initial flagship ventures.
 
His research interests are focused on the democratization of clinical research, seeking to simplify the design, conduct and reporting of clinical trials, and other forms of outcomes analysis. This is exemplified in the conduct of the HEAT-PPCI trial (the largest ever single-centre trial and the only study to recruit 100% of eligible patient presenting with the clinical syndrome of interest).
 
Prof Stables’ term as the BHF CRC Clinical Lead role will commence immediately until the end of May 2021.