Dr. Anderson

Why did you choose to work in the field of electrophysiology?
Electrophysiology is logical and mechanistic, is loaded with satisfying and effective clinical therapies, but also abounds in important and interesting research questions.

What was the most bizarre or difficult case you have ever been involved in?
A case with AVNRT and multiple bystander pathways comes to mind.

What research activities is the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine involved in?
Vanderbilt has extensive research in ICD therapy (focusing on the application of ATP for fast VT, Mark Wathen); heart rate variability and signal processing (Jeff Rottman); genetics of arrhythmias (Dan Roden, Dawood Darbar, and Prince Kannenkeril); ionic mechanisms of arrhythmias (myself, Kathy Murray and Dan Roden); cellular signaling in arrhythmias (myself, Dan Roden, and Kathy Murray) and structural heart disease (myself); and congenital and pediatric arrhythmias (Frank Fish and Prince Kannenkeril).

If you could send a message back to yourself at the beginning of your EP lab career, what advice would you give?
My advice would be to pick an important, unsolved problem and to stay focused.

What changes do you think will occur in the field of electrophysiology in the coming decades?
I think the improved understanding of the biological basis for arrhythmias will lead to a new and more successful generation of drug therapies that fundamentally address the biological underpinnings of structural (and electrical) heart disease.