DrCristobal Rodero Gomez

Dr Rodero came to NHLI recently with the relocation of Professor Steven Niederer’s research group, where he was a postdoctoral researcher, having completed a PhD within the Personalised In-silico Cardiology (PIC) Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network. This work created the first virtual patient cohort of healthy four-chamber hearts, including analysis of the variation in shape, which was made available open to the community, with thousands of downloads to date and used by multiple modelling and image analysis groups. These anatomical models served as the foundation for conducting the first cardiac biomechanics analysis, focusing on the sensitivity of whole heart function and shape. Dr Rodero demonstrated that high-order modes, which do not significantly account for shape variance, can be crucial for explaining functional variation. This supports the inclusion of higher modes in statistical shape analysis. In addition, Dr Rodero was able to perform in silico trials to determine the optimal pacemaker lead design to achieve synchronous electrical activation. This study demonstrates how simulations and cluster analysis could be used to identify optimal lead designs and determine when patient-specific devices are necessary and when devices may need to be optimized as the heart remodels.

During his postdoctoral studies, Dr Rodero has extended his expertise by working on creating and accelerating the first-ever pipeline to create four-chamber models from MRI images as well as refining and accelerating the calibration of models to establish the appropriate sets of parameters to personalise a simulation to a specific patient. He has been applying this to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients, which affects 1 in 200 people, as well as dilated cardiomyopathy patients from the TRED-HF trial and healthy volunteers undergoing DT-MRI.

Dr Rodero is also passionate about public engagement activities, with experience on publishing on journals reviewed by and aimed at teenagers, general public science festivals such as New Scientist Live or The Great Exhibition Road Festival (GERF), specialised science festival such as AI UK and collaborations with artists in the Science Gallery (London) and at GERF.