Effectiveness of catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation according to heart failure etiology.

Statistical methods in clinical trials, survival analysis, adaptive designs, adaptive treatment strategies, causal inference in observational studies, semiparametric inference

Dr. Sana M. Al-Khatib is a tenured Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, a board-certified clinical electrophysiologist and an experienced clinical researcher in cardiac arrhythmias.  She is currently the Director of the Fellowship Program at the Duke Clinical Research Institute.  As a graduate of the NIH-funded Clinical Research Training Program, she is one of a few electrophysiologists nationwide with expertise in quantitative research methods. Her clinical expertise is in sudden cardiac death prevention, atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias, and implantable cardiac devices. Her research expertise lies in the design and conduct of clinical trials, outcomes research, and cost-effectiveness analyses. She is a recipient of a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s R-01 grant titled “Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Therapy in Patients with Heart Failure” (2009-2013) and of an American Heart Association Career Development Award (2002-2006). She is a Co-Principal Investigator on an NHLBI-funded T-32 Postdoctoral Training in Cardiovascular Clinical Research and is a co-investigator on several NIH-funded projects. She has more than 350 publications in peer-reviewed journals. She has established several collaborative research efforts both within and outside her institution. The goals of these collaborations are to synergize efforts aimed at improving the survival and quality of life of patients at risk for sudden cardiac death and those with atrial and ventricular arrhythmias through clinical trials and outcomes-based research and to evaluate study design and data analysis in order to improve the quality of research done in these arenas. Dr. Al-Khatib is a Senior Associate Editor for Circulation and is on the Editorial Board for Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Heart Rhythm, Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, JACC:EP, the Cardiovascular Digital Health Journal, and the American Heart Journal. Dr. Al-Khatib has served on multiple national committees including the Heart Rhythm Society Board of Trustees (current), the Heart Rhythm Society Finance Committee (current), the Heart Rhythm Society Audit Committee (current), the Heart Rhythm Society Health Policy committee (past), the Heart Rhythm Society Legislative subcommittee (past), and the Heart Rhythm Society Program Planning committee (past). She chaired the 2017 AHA/ACC/HRS Guideline for the Management of Patients with Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death. 

Atrial fibrillation ablation.
Cardiac resynchronization therapy.
Implantable defibrillator, including inappropriate shocks.
Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia/Cardiomyopathy
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Long QT syndrome
Sudden cardiac arrest and resuscitation.
Ventricular tachycardia

Research interests include:
- optimization of device timing for Cardiac Resynchronzation Therapy (CRT)
- novel cardiac imaging technologies for CRT
- catheter ablation versus anti-arrhythmic drug for treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Dr. Jackson is a physician-scientist with clinical expertise in adult clinical cardiac electrophysiology. His research focuses on identifying determinants of racial/ethnic differences in arrhythmia care and the development and implementation of patient-centered interventions aimed at facilitating shared decision-making in populations that have been systemically disadvantaged with abnormal heart rhythm conditions. Dr. Jackson has an advanced degree (MHSc) in clinical and qualitative research methodology and is a member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute. His research skills, obtained during his time at the Duke Clinical Research Institute Research Fellowship, include formal training in large database analysis, clinical trial operations, scientific writing, clinical trial adjudication and statistical analysis. Dr. Jackson’s research funding consists of two career development awards: 1) National Institute of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-K01 focused on racial and ethnic differences in oral anticoagulation use in patients with atrial fibrillation and 2) AHA career development award focused on analyzing racial and ethnic differences in the use of rhythm control strategies in patients with atrial fibrillation.  Dr. Jackson’s long-term, overarching goal as a physician-scientist is to decrease racial and ethnic disparities in arrhythmia care for patients with abnormal heart rhythm conditions.

Jonathan P. Piccini, MD, MHS, FACC, FAHA, FHRS is a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist and Professor of Medicine and Population Health at Duke University Hospital and the Duke Clinical Research Institute. He is the Director of the Cardiac Electrophysiology section at the Duke Heart Center. His focus is on the care of patients with atrial fibrillation and complex arrhythmias, with particular emphasis on catheter ablation, pacing, and lead extraction. His research interests include the development and evaluation of innovative cardiovascular interventions for the treatment of heart rhythm disorders. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Heart Rhythm Society, is an Associate Editor at JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology, and is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. Piccini has more than 600 publications in the field of heart rhythm medicine and has been the recipient of several teaching and mentorship awards.