Professor André Ng

Professor André Ng, Head of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, has revolutionised the way heart treatments and procedures are done.  

Professor Ng is an expert in the management of cardiac arrhythmias especially in catheter ablation and the use of mapping systems in such procedures. He was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Cardiology at the University of Leicester in 2002 and Consultant Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist at the University Hospitals of Leicester and was awarded Personal Chair in Cardiac Electrophysiology in 2013. 

He has played a key role in the establishment of an active ablation programme for Atrial Fibrillation since 2002 at Glenfield Hospital and has pioneered the use of a novel robotic system in AF ablation. He has provided proctorship for new ablation technologies at many centres worldwide. He also specialises in advance device implantation including pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) devices. 

Professor Ng has a distinguished research profile in investigations into cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmia mechanisms, leading cross-disciplinary teams of talented researchers including basic scientists, clinical fellows and biomedical engineers.  

He has translated important preclinical findings into investigations in cardiac patients with the successful development of a novel technology for sudden death risk stratification, LifeMap, which won numerous prizes including Medical Futures Award 2011 – Best Innovation in Diagnostics and European Heart Rhythm Association Inventors Award 2016, resulting in 2 internationally granted patents.  

Professor Ng works closely with Industry partners in both pharmaceutical and medical device areas, conducting clinical trials as national chief investigator and principal investigator for investigator-led research grants supported by Industry funding.  

Professor Ng is a Fellow of several professional societies (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Royal College of Physicians, European Society of Cardiology, European Heart Rhythm Association and Higher Education Academy) and is Vice President (Research and Education) and Chair of the Programme Committee of the British Cardiovascular Society.  

• Autonomic modulation of Electrical Restitution and Ventricular Fibrillation initiation
• Nitric oxide in mediating vagal protection of the heart against VF
• Non-invasive markers of ventricular arrhythmia risk stratification
• Atrial fibrillation - spectral characteristics and catheter ablation
• Electromechanical refinement of multi-site cardiac pacing

Li, X., Chu, G.S, Almeida, T.P., Vanheusden F.J., Salinet, J., Dastagir, N., Mistry, A. R., Vali, Z, Sidhu B, Starfford, P. J., Schlindwein, F.S., Ng, G.A., 2021. Automatic Extraction of Recurrent Patterns of High Dominant Frequency Mapping during Human Persistent Atrial Fibrillation. Front. Physiol (In Press), doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.649486

Kirchhof P, Camm AJ, Goette A, Brandes A, Eckardt L, Elvan A, Fetsch T, van Gelder IC, Haase D, Haegeli LM, Hamann F, Heidbüchel H, Hindricks G, Kautzner J, Kuck KH, Mont L, Ng GA, Rekosz J, Schoen N, Schotten U, Suling A, Taggeselle J, Themistoclakis S, Vettorazzi E, Vardas P, Wegscheider K, Willems S, Crijns HJGM, Breithardt G; EAST-AFNET 4 Trial Investigators. Early Rhythm-Control Therapy in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation. N Engl J Med. 2020 Aug 29. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2019422.

Li X, Almeida TP, Dastagir N, Guillem MS, Salinet J, Chu GS, Stafford PJ, Schlindwein FS, Ng GA. Standardizing Single-Frame Phase Singularity Identification Algorithms and Parameters in Phase Mapping During Human Atrial Fibrillation. Front Physiol. 2020 Jul 21;11:869. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00869.

Koeckerling D, Barker J, Mudalige NL, Oyefeso O, Pan D, Pareek M, Thompson JP, Ng GA. Awake prone positioning in COVID-19. Thorax. 2020 Jun 16:thoraxjnl-2020-215133. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2020-215133.

Zakeri R, Morgan JM, Phillips P, Kitt S, Ng GA, McComb JM, Williams S, Wright DJ, Gill JS, Seed A, Witte KK, Cowie MR; REM-HF Investigators. Prevalence and prognostic significance of device-detected subclinical atrial fibrillation in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction. Int J Cardiol. 2020 Mar 3. pii: S0167-5273(19)34926-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2020.03.008.

Chin SH, Allen E, Brack KE, Ng GA. Effects of sympatho-vagal interaction on ventricular electrophysiology and their modulation during beta-blockade. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2020 Jan 29;139:201-212. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2020.01.011.

Zakeri R, Morgan JM, Phillips P, Kitt S, Ng GA, McComb JM, Williams S, Wright DJ, Gill JS, Seed A, Witte KK, Cowie MR; REM-HF Investigators. Impact of remote monitoring on clinical outcomes for patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation: results from the REM-HF trial. Eur J Heart Fail. 2020 Jan 7. doi: 10.1002/ejhf.1709.

Mistry A, Vali Z, Sidhu B, Budgeon C, Yuyun MF, Pooranachandran V, Li X, Newton M, Watts J, Khunti K, Samani NJ, Ng GA. Disparity in implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy among minority South Asians in the United Kingdom. Heart. 2020 Jan 10. pii: heartjnl-2019-315978. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2019-315978.

Almeida TP, Li X, Soriano DC, Schlindwein FS, Ng GA. Pitfalls in the definition of complex fractionated atrial electrograms for atrial fibrillation studies. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2019 Dec 4. doi: 10.1111/jce.14302.

Willems S, Meyer C, de Bono J, Brandes A, Eckardt L, Elvan A, van Gelder I, Goette A, Gulizia M, Haegeli L, Heidbuchel H, Haeusler KG, Kautzner J, Mont L, Ng GA, Szumowski L, Themistoclakis S, Wegscheider K, Kirchhof P. Cabins, castles, and constant hearts: rhythm control therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation. Eur Heart J. 2019 Dec 7;40(46):3793-3799c.

Mistry A, Vali Z, Taher A, Sidhu B, Li X, Newton M, Ng GA. Consideration for primary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillators differ between specialities. Postgrad Med J. 2019 Apr;95(1122):205-209.

Wang L, Morotti S, Tapa S, Francis Stuart SD, Jiang Y, Wang Z, Myles RC, Brack KE, Ng GA, Bers DM, Grandi E, Ripplinger CM. Different paths, same destination: divergent action potential responses produce conserved cardiac fight-or-flight response in mouse and rabbit hearts. J Physiol. 2019 Aug;597(15):3867-3883.

Hausenloy DJ, Botker HE, Ferdinandy P, Heusch G, Ng GA, Redington A, Garcia-Dorado D, on behalf of the EU-CARDIOPROTECTION COST Action (CA16225). Cardiac innervation in acute myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury and cardioprotection. Cardiovascular Research 2019. pii: cvz053. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvz053.

Almeida TP, Schlindwein FS, Salinet JL, Li X, Chu GS, Tuan JH, Stafford PJ, Ng GA, Soriano DC. The temporal stability of recurrence quantification analysis attributes from chronic atrial fibrillation electrograms. Research on Biomedical Engineering 2019 (in press)

O’Shea C, Holmes AP, Yu TY, Winter J, Wells SP, Correia J, Boukens BJ, De Groot JR, Chu GS, Li X, Ng GA, Kirchhof P, Fabritz L, Rajpoot K, Pavlovic D. ElectroMap: High-throughput open-source software for analysis and mapping of cardiac electrophysiology. Nature – Scientific Reports 2019;9(1):1389. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-38263-2.

Vanheusden FJ, Chu GS, Li X, Salinet J, Almeida TP, Dastagir N, Stafford PJ, Ng GA, Schlindwein FS. Systematic differences of non-invasive dominant frequency estimation compared to invasive dominant frequency estimation in atrial fibrillation. Comput Biol Med. 2018 pii: S0010-4825(18)30379-2. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2018.11.017.

Ng GA, Mistry A, Schlindwein FS, Nicolson WB. LifeMap: towards the development of a new technology in sudden cardiac death risk stratification for clinical use. Europace 2018;20(FI2):f162-f170. doi: 10.1093/europace/euy080.

Patel V, Karteris E, Chen J, Kyrou I, Mattu HS, Dimitriadis GK, Rodrigo G, Antoniades C, Antonopoulos A, Tan BK, Hillhouse EW, Ng A, Randeva H. Functional Cardiac Orexin Receptors: Role of Orexin-B/Orexin 2 Receptor in Myocardial Protection. Clin Sci (Lond). 2018 Nov 22. pii: CS20180150. doi: 10.1042/CS20180150.

Almeida TP, Schlindwein FS, Salinet J, Li X, Chu GS, Tuan JH, Stafford PJ, André Ng G, Soriano DC. Characterization of human persistent atrial fibrillation electrograms using recurrence quantification analysis. Chaos. 2018 Aug;28(8):085710. doi: 10.1063/1.5024248.

Trethewey SP, Nicolson WB, Ng GA. Investigation of the relationship between two novel electrocardiogram-based sudden cardiac death risk markers and autonomic function. Journal of Electrocardiology. 2018;51:889-894.

External positions

• Chair (2009-18), Specialist Training Committee, East Midlands South Deanery
• Director (2009-18), Higher Specialist Training, Cardiology Programme, HEE-East Midlands (South)
• Specialist Adviser (2010-13), NICE Interventional Procedures Programme
• Member (2012-16), Specialist Advisory Committee, Cardiology, JRCPTB, Royal College of Physicians
• Member (2011-17), REM-HF Steering Committee
• Member (2017-20), British Heart Foundation Project Grants Committee
• Elected Member (2016-19), Chair (2020- ), British Cardiovascular Society Programme Committee
• Member (2018 - ), University of Leicester Centre for Black, Minority Ethnic Health, Steering Committee
• Member (04/2018 - ), Clinical Senate, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
• Deputy Lead (04/2018 - 03/2020), NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, Cardiovascular Theme
• Regional Specialty Adviser (7/2018 - ), British Cardiovascular Society / Royal College of Physicians
• Member (2018 - ), LD3, Institute for Precision Health, Steering Committee
• Academic Lead (2018-20), NIHR-BHF Cardiovascular Partnership
• Vice President (2020 - ), British Cardiovascular Society, Education and Research
• Research Director (2016-20), Department of Cardiovascular Sciences
• Member (2020), EPSRC Transformative Healthcare Technologies Panel
• Non-Executive Director (2021 - ), Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust
• Deputy Chair (2022 - ), East Midlands Cardiac Network
• Clinical Lead (2022 - ), Heart Rhythm Pathway, East Midlands Cardiac Network

Leicester Atrial Fibrillation Virtual Ward

• 21 October 2022 Summary of visit by Chief Technology Office, David Turner. Twitter
• 17 October 2022 NHSE and NHS Digital CTO, David Turner’s comments. Twitter
• 26 August 2022 Dignio and AliveCor link up to provide remote ECG monitoring. Med-tech news
• 25 August 2022 Dignio UK links up with AliveCor to support patients at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. LinkedIn
• 24 August 2022 Tech firms come together for Leicester AF virtual ward project. Health Tech World
• 24 August 2022 Patient perspective. Vimeo
• 29 March 2022 Leicester opens virtual ward for atrial fibrillation patients Future Care Capital
• 24 March 2022 Virtual ward created for atrial fibrillation patients in Leicester. Digital Health
• 22 March 2022 Virtual ward for Afib patients launched in Leicester. Med-tech news

EAST-AFNet4 trial

• 29 August 2020, Leicester heart researchers play key role in international study treating patients with common heart rhythm condition. NIHR Leicester BRC. Leicester's Hospitals.

QDOT MICRO® AF ablation (QMode+)

• 23 Dec 2020 - Leicester Research Highlights 2020. YouTube.
• 20 Nov 2020 - Global Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Week. Twitter. Vimeo.
• 14 Sept 2020 - One million Britons with ‘racing heart’ disease could soon be offered super-fast surgery. Whatsnew2day.
• 12 Sept 2020 - The beat goes on ... thanks to a fast blast to the heart. Microsoft News.
• 12 Sept 2020 - Super-fast surgery could soon be offered to one million Britons. Mail on Sunday. Flipboard.
• 6 Sept 2020 - UK first: super fast procedure to treat heart arrhythmia performed in Leicester. YouTube - BBC East Midlands.
• 25 August 2020 - Patient the first in the UK to undergo new procedure to treat heart arrhythmia. Fosse 107.
• 25 August 2020 - Superfast procedure to treat heart arrhythmia. Healthcare in Europe.
• 25 August 2020 - Great combination for AF ablation - nGen and QDotMicro - UK first superfast ablation. Twitter.
• 25 August 2020 - 4 seconds and you have a lesion! UK first superfast ablation at Leicester. Twitter. LinkedIn.
• 25 August 2020 - UK's first op to treat heart arrhythmia takes place in city. Twitter. LinkedIn.
• 24 August 2020 - Patient at Glenfield Hospital undergoes UK's first procedure to treat heart arrhythmia. Leicester Mercury.
• 24 August 2020 - UK first: superfast procedure to treat heart arrhythmia performed in Leicester. UHL. LinkedIn.
• 3 December 2019 - First QDot (QMode) UK case at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester. Twitter.

KODEX-EPDTM cardiac mapping and navigation system

• 12 August 2019 - UK first for Leicester: ground-breaking software lets surgeon see real-time 3D map of heart. UoL. UHL.
• 14 August 2019 - Software lets surgeon see real-time 3D map of heart. Health Tech Newspaper.
• 15 August 2019 - Glenfield Hospital surgeons use 3D heart map in operations. BBC Online.
• 20 August 2019 - New software lets surgeon see real-time 3D map of heart. Design Products and Applications.
• 21 September 2019 - KODEX-EPD mapping for AF ablation. European Heart Journal.

Personalised Space Technology Exercise Platform (P-STEP)

• 30 March 2021 - How satellites can improve the health of city dwellers. Glendive Gazette.
• 29 April 2019 - Space tech to fight bowel cancer and exposure to air pollution. GOV.UK. pharmafield. Government WORLD.
• 29 April 2019 - Ground-breaking space technology receives real-life health application. NIHR Leicester BRC. Leicester's Hospitals. University of Leicester.
• 29 April 2019 - Leicester awarded £2 million by UK Space Agency to develop mobile app. Health Tech News.
• 30 April 2019 - Space tech tackles health issues back on Earth. The Engineer.
• 1 May 2019 - Space tech returns to Earth to fight air pollution exposure in hospitals. Energy Live News.
• 10 May 2019 - Space tech to diagnose bowel cancer and monitor pollution hotspots. Geospatial world.
• 17 May 2019 - P-STEP to address health issues. Zenopa.
• 10 June 2019 - How satellites can improve the health of city dwellers. Phys Org.
• 11 June 2019 - Mobile apps can help steer users away from polluted city areas. Earth.com.

New pacemaker therapy for heart failure

• 7 November 2017 - New treatment offers hope for patients with heart failure. University of Leicester. Leicester's Hospitals.
• 13 November 2017 - Revolutionary new pacemaker technique could help people with heart failure. Leicester Mercury.
• 9 January 2018 - New pacemaker for severe heart failure. Daily Mail.

European Heart Rhythm Association Inventors Award 2016

• 15 July 2016 - Heart specialist rewarded for invention to help save the lives. Leicester Mercury
• 11 July 2016 - University of Leicester Professor receives award for life saving technology. University of Leicester.
• 8 June 2016 - BRU Investigator Wins Prestigious Award. University of Leicester. Twitter. CVS Newsletter. European Heart Rhythm Association.

UK-first heart operations using novel system at Leicester

• 19 May 2016 - First UK heart operations using new computer program. Leicester Mercury.
• 19 May 2016 - UK's first heart operation uses new Topera system to analyse electrical activity during AF. NewsMedical.
• 19 May 2016 - Cardiologist Performs Heart Operations Using Novel System. Scicasts.
• 18 May 2016 - UK first heart operations using novel system at Leicester. University of Leicester. Alphagalileo. Eurekalert. Medicalxpress. ScienceNewsline. ScienceCodex. YouTube.

Test to predict risk of sudden cardiac death being developed in Leicester, UK

• 5 May 2016 - Funding For Research Into New Life-Saving Test. Clinical Services Journal.
• 1 April 2016 - New test for sudden cardiac death receives funding. University of Leicester. Heart Research UK. Leicester Mercury. Cardiac Rhythm News.

World-first Robotic Catheter System experience

• 7 August 2012 - The rise of Robodoc: They can operate on everything from your heart to creaky knees - but would you put your life into the hands of a robot surgeon? Daily Mail.
• 24 January 2012 - A 'Robo-doc' fixed my fluttering heart. Daily Express.
• 19 November 2011 - 'Robosurgeon' could alter UK heart surgery forever. Leicester Mercury.
• 17 November 2011 - Derby man's life transformed by robotic arm heart surgery. BBC News. Derby Telegraph.
• 16 November 2011 - World First heart op changed my life. University Hosptials of Leicester NHS Trust.
• 23 August 2011 - World First use of SmartTouch Catheter with Amigo Robot at Glenfield. Dot Medical.
• 19 May 2011 - Research expertise - Case studies. University of Leicester.
• 11 April 2011 - 49th Medical Innovations Briefing. Royal Society of Medicine.
• 30 March 2011 - Robo-op is a new world first for heart procedure. London Press Service.
• 2 December 2010 - Operation Robot. BBC Radio 4 In Business.
• 16 November 2010 - Robot arm in pioneering operation at Glenfield Hospital. BBC News. Medical News today. Leicester Mercury.
• 25 October 2010 - Fully armed. Public Service Review: European Union. Digital edition.
• 29 April 2010 - Robot arm used in heart surgery first in Leicester. BBC News. BBC Radio 4 Today. Leicester Mercury.

UK-first Nerve-stimulator implant for Heart Failure

• April 2013 - CardioFit™ in treating congestive heart failure. Hospital Healthcare Europe 2013.
• October 2012 - UK First. University Hospitals of Leicester.
• 24 August 2012 - Revolutionary heart operation at Glenfield Hospital. Leicester Mercury.
• 23 August 2012 - First UK operation to tackle heart failure with novel nerve-stimulating implant. University of Leicester. Leicester Mercury. BBC. The Telegraph. Daily Express. ITV.

Leicester-first ROX coupler implant for Resistant Hypertension

• 25 January 2015 - Implanted device could help patients with resistant high blood pressure. Design products and Applications.
• 23 January 2015 - Blood pressure trials find new hypertension cure works. Leicester Mercury.
• 23 Januray 2015 - Device found to lower blood pressure. University of Leicester.
• 23 September 2013 - Groundbreaking procedure using novel 'paper-clip- style device to treat high blood pressure. Medical News Today. MediLexicon. Indian Express
• 19 September 2013 - Groundbreaking procedure using novel 'paper-clip'style device to treat high blood pressure. University of Leicester. Science Daily.
• 19 September 2013 - Glenfield Hospital in groundbreaking high blood pressure research. Leicester Mercury. Topix.net
• 19 September 2013 - Could a paperclip-style device inserted in your thigh help reduce dangerously high blood pressure? Daily Mail. MD.TECH-EX.COM
• 19 September 2013 - Novel paper-clip sized device used to tackle resistant high blood pressure. News-medical.net.

Research awards and news, University of Leicester

• 7 July 2016 - Festival of Postgraduate Research Awards - Leicester Mercury Media Prize and Best Poster (College of Medicine, Biological Sciences, and Psychology) winners. University of Leicester.
• 8 June 2016 - BRU Investigator Wins Prestigious Award. University of Leicester. Twitter
• June 2016 - Physiological Society Rob Clarke Award. University of Leicester.
• 13 April 2016 - Doctor backs research into cricketer's heart ailment. Leicester Mercury.
• 17 May 2012 - Best Poster - Festival of Postgraduate Research 2012. University of Leicester.
• 30 January 2012 - No limits: overcoming barriers to innovation. Medtronic Eureka
• 19 October 2011 - Triple award success for University researchers. University of Leicester.
• 18 October 2011 - Prestigious award combines University innovations with design know-how. University of Leicester.
• 17 October 2011 - University of Leicester to Commercialise Ground Breaking Research with Design Council Programme. University of Leicester. 24dash.com. Leicester Mercury.
• 14 October 2011 - University of Leicester researchers celebrate 'double hat trick' in heart research awards. University of Leicester. Loughborough News.
• 6 June 2011 - LifeMapTM wins at Medical Futures Innovation Awards 2011- Best Innovation in Diagnostics. University of Leicester.
• 2 June 2011 - Regional and international accolades for Leicester researcher. 24dash.com. University of Leicester.
• 21 March 2011 - Five Leicester researchers who SET an example. University of Leicester.
• 15 March 2011 - New treatment hope for irregular heart beat presented at Parliament. University of Leicester.
• 9 December 2010 - University of Leicester researcher achieves national recognition. 24dash.com.
• 28 June 2010 - New 'color maps' could warn of heart problem. UK Trade & Industry.
• 23 March 2010 - Prestigious accolade for researcher. University of Leicester.
• 23 March 2010 - Ground-breaking innovations in healthcare receive prestigious awards. University of Leicester.
• March 2010 - Clinical Impact Award. Da-Vinci Award 2010.
• 20 January 2010 - New treatment hope by 'painting the colours of the heart'. Medical News Today.

Miscellaneous

• 9 January 2013 - Managing atrial fibrillation may prevent the risk of stroke. Neuro News.
• 28 October 2008 - Revolutionary operation performed live for Heart Rhythm Congress. Science Daily. EurekAlert.