Dr Maria Paton

Profile

After undergraduate studies in Cardiac Science at the University of Leeds, I trained in echocardiography at Leeds Teaching Hospitals and gained British Society of Echocardiography accreditation. I went on to train in cardiac devices and became IBHRE accredited. I completed an MSc in Advanced Practice and an NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Internship (2015), before undertaking a short clinical placement in Echocardiography at King's College Hospital, London, and a six month research fellowship at KU Leuven, Belgium, during an NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Doctoral Fellowship (2017-2020). In 2021 I secured a joint clinical academic appointment as an NIHR ICA Clinical Lecturer, researching echocardiography-derived cardiac mechanics in pacemaker recipients, and as a Clinical Cardiac Scientist, leading the Heart Failure and Device service at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust. I am now a Leeds NIHR BRC Postdoctoral Fellow and Honorary Cardiac Scientist, Leeds NIHR BRC Cardiometabolic Disease Co-Lead, and Trustee and Chair of Research for the British Society of Echocardiography.

Responsibilities

• Research Group Leader
• Leeds NIHR BRC Cardiometabolic Disease Co-Lead
• SLead for the Combined Heart Failure and Device Service (LTHT)

Research interests

My research interests lie in the following: optimising the diagnostic pathway for people with suspected heart failure, with a particular emphasis on the diagnostic performance of cardiac ultrasound technologies; personalising and optimising cardiac device therapies to prevent or manage heart failure; and assessing echocardiography-derived measures of cardiac mechanics.

I enjoy working within multidisciplinary teams, particularly being embedded within the Heart Failure multidisciplinary team, and am interested in the potential benefits of our research for patients. I am also passionate about improving research capacity for underrepresented professions, particularly within my own profession of clinical cardiac physiology and cardiac science.

I am Co-Lead for the Cardiometabolic Theme of the Leeds Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Leeds, Chair of Research and a Trustee for the British Society of Echcardiography, Research committee member for the British Heart Rhythm Society and Board Observer for the British Society of Heart Failure. I am also a member of NHS Englands Heart Failure Expert Advisory Group. I am Chief and Primary Ingevtigator on investigator-led and commercial research projects and am a steering committee member for national research projects.

Qualifications

• PhD
• MSc Advanced Practice
• PG Diploma in Health Research
• BSc Cardiac Physiology
• International board of Heart Rhythm Examination

Professional memberships

• Health Care Professions Council
• British Society of Echocardiography
• British Heart Rhythm Society
• British Society for Heart Failure

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine