Advisory Board
Dr Alison Calver
Alison Calver completed her undergraduate medical training at Cambridge University and University College and The Middlesex Medical School, London. She was a Tripos Scholar of Cambridge University and gained Honours in her final Medical Examinations. She undertook General Professional Training in London, before deciding to specialise in Cardiology. Dr Calver completed her MD thesis on “The role of Nitric Oxide in the control of vascular endothelium” in the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at St George’s Hospital London, under the supervision of Professors Joe Collier and Patrick Vallance. Her postgraduate training in Cardiology took place at St George’s Hospital London, The London Chest Hospital and Southampton University Hospital.She was appointed Consultant in Interventional Cardiology at Southampton in 2000. Her clinical interests are in interventional cardiology and transoesophageal echocardiography. She is the lead Consultant for Medical Education and a member of the Royal College of Physicians Standing Committee for New Consultants.
Dr Huon Gray
Huon Gray qualified at St Thomas’ Hospital, London in 1977, later completing his MD thesis there as British Heart Foundation Junior Research Fellow (1980-2). His specialist cardiology training was undertaken at the Brompton and St George’s Hospitals, London (1984-89) prior to his appointment as Consultant Cardiologist to the Wessex Regional Cardiac Unit in Southampton in 1989. He has published articles in a variety of cardiological fields including hypertension, pulmonary embolism and in his sub-specialist area of clinical expertise, interventional cardiology.He has been involved in many national cardiological audit projects and guidelines for best practice, particularly in interventional cardiology. He has held a number of national positions in cardiology including Honorary Secretary of the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (1992-6), Honorary Secretary of the British Cardiac Society (1998-2000) and most recently as President of the British Cardiac Society (2003-05).
Dr Gray is president of InVivo Technology’s Scientific Advisory Board
Dr John Morgan
John Morgan was born and educated in South Wales. Having obtained a place to read medicine at Cambridge, he chose to join the army and was commissioned (SSLC) in the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment. In 1976 he went up to Gonville and Caius College Cambridge where he received 1st Class honours in parts I and II of the Natural Sciences Tripos, graduating in 1979. From there he went to Westminster Medical School to complete his medical education, graduating MB BChir in 1982. He became a member of the Royal College in 1985 and Fellow in 1995. He developed an interest in cardiac arrhythmogenesis early in his career, writing his doctoral thesis on abnormalities of cardiac repolarisation (MD 1991).On his appointment as Consultant Cardiologist, Wessex Cardiothoracic Centre (1992) he founded the Wessex Cardiac Arrhythmia Management Service which has become recognised as a centre of clinical and research excellence, and was appointed Honorary Senior Lecturer, Southampton Medical School, in 1999. Dr Morgan holds two published patents relating to invention of novel interventional technologies. He supervises/has supervised several fellows in doctoral research projects and continues to research and publish extensively and is an internationally recognised leader in his field.
Dr Paul Roberts
Paul Roberts qualified at the University of Leeds Medical School in 1990 and was appointed as Consultant in Cardiology and Electrophysiology in April 2002 at the Wessex Cardiac Unit, Southampton. He has a research and clinical expertise in most areas of cardiac electrophysiology. He spent two years in the United States at a number of cardiac units including the Cleveland Clinic. Jointly with his colleague John Morgan, he leads the Cardiac Rhythm Management Service for the Wessex region that covers a population in the order of 3.5 million, and provides the tertiary referral centre for all patients with complex arrhythmias, both adult and paediatric.The service, in part, entails radiofrequency ablation for arrhythmias using conventional and complex electroanatomical mapping systems (CARTO, EnSite, Navx) and implantation of a variety of biomedical devices. The latter includes conventional pacemaker systems, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), cardiac resynchronisation devices and implantable monitors. The Wessex Cardiac Rhythm Management Service has an international reputation for its innovative research and its position at the forefront of clinical technology.
Dr Iain Simpson
Iain Simpson qualified in Medicine from the University of Glasgow in 1980. In conjunction with training in Cardiology he was involved in the early development of continuous wave Doppler ultrasound in the United Kingdom leading to an MD thesis on the subject. Following this, he studied as a British Heart Foundation/American Heart Association travelling Fellow at the University of California, San Diego with Professor David Sahn, developing aspects of quantitative mitral regurgitation and spatial acceleration characteristics of colour Doppler flow mapping and magnetic resonance imaging. Following a senior registrar rotation at St. Georges Hospital, London and the Royal Brompton Hospital, he was appointed as a Consultant Cardiologist at the Wessex Regional Cardiac Unit in Southampton.A Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Fellow of the Royal College or Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and Fellow of the American College of Cardiology he has maintained an active interest in Cardiovascular Research and Information Technology. Currently he holds a British Heart Foundation Grant assessing the genetic influences in atherosclerosis development with Professor Ian Day, and has a further research grant to develop smooth muscle cell culture to study the effects of inflammation in atherosclerosis. He has previously served as a Council Member of the British Cardiac Society and is currently the Commissioning Editor for the international cardiology journal, Heart.
Dr Paul Yock
Paul Yock is the Martha Meier Weiland Professor of Medicine and Mechanical Engineering (by Courtesy) and Director of the Center for Research in Cardiovascular Interventions at Stanford. He is also Director of Stanford's Program in Biodesign, and Co-Chair, Department of Bioengineering.The main focus of Dr. Yock’s research program has been in the field of intravascular ultrasound. Dr. Yock is internationally known for his work in inventing, developing and testing new devices, involving the Rapid Exchange ™ balloon angioplasty system, which is now the dominant system in use worldwide. He developed a Doppler-guided hypodermic needle system, and the Smart Needle ™ and P-D Access ™.