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Dr Edward Stephenson

Dr Edward Stephenson (BMedSci MBBS PGCert MRCP PhD)

Assistant Professor in Physician Associate Studies (Pharmacology & Therapeutics)
E: e.stephenson@bsms.ac.uk
Location: Room 344a, Watson Building, Falmer, BN1 9PH

Area of expertise: Cardiology, immunology, teaching

Research areas: Artificial intelligence in medical education

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Biography

Ed is currently a Specialist Registrar in Cardiology and General Internal Medicine within the KSS deanery along with working in the Department of Medical Education here at BSMS. His journey in academic medicine began during his undergraduate years, when he pursued a BMedSci in Molecular Therapeutics and discovered a deep interest in cardiomyopathies. Following his medical studies at Barts and The London, he spent my elective at the Montréal Heart Institute, working closely with Dr. Matthias Friedrich. During this time, He focused on developing skills in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) interpretation reaffirming my aspiration to become a specialist in inherited and inflammatory heart muscle diseases.

Eager to deepen his expertise, Ed pursued a PhD in cardiac immunology at Queen Mary, University of London, supported by a British Heart Foundation Clinical Research Training Fellowship. Under the supervision of Professor Federica Marelli-Berg and Professor. Sam Mohiddin, he investigated molecular targets for the diagnosis and treatment of myocarditis.

Ed's clinical training has been diverse, including posts in internal medicine, nephrology, oncology, respiratory, and acute medicine. Outside the clinical and research setting, he enjoys playing golf, listening to country music and spending time with his young family.

Research

Ed's principal research interests are currently within using artificial intelligence (AI) in integrating innovative technologies into medical research and practice. Most recently, he has embarked on projects that examine how AI can be applied to medical education, seeking to enhance student assessment as well as on prospective student selection and admissions. This emerging area of his research dovetails with my existing work in cardiology, where AI algorithms are already being used to aid in patient diagnostics.

Additionally, from the outset of Ed's career, he has been intrigued by the ways inflammatory processes can affect the structure and function of the heart, leading him to focus much of my work on myocardial inflammation. During his formative academic years, he undertook a project on apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which demonstrated the utility of CMR perfusion assessment.

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Teaching

Teaching is vital as a medical professional, and Ed enjoys engaging with both students and colleagues in this regard. His formal training includes a postgraduate certificate in medical education. Early in his teaching career, he had the opportunity to co-supervise a BMedSci project focused on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, providing me with hands-on insight into mentoring students through research design, data collection, and analysis.

Most recently Ed has embraced technology-enhanced instruction, incorporating digital tools such as interactive software and online platforms to diversify learning modalities. In his lecturing role, he aims to maintain a balance between delivering core content and stimulating active participation.

Another aspect of Ed's teaching approach involves ensuring that learners can see the direct clinical relevance of the material. Given his knowledge of cardiology, general medicine and immunology, he frequently draws upon case studies from my own practice or research projects. This contextualisation demonstrates the importance of interdisciplinary thinking and emphasises the translational nature of medical knowledge.

While he does not regularly supervise a large cohort of students, he remain open to further teaching opportunities that would allow him to refine and expand my techniques.

Selected publications

Stephenson E, Savvatis K, Mohiddin SA, Marelli-Berg FM. T-cell immunity in myocardial inflammation: pathogenic role and therapeutic manipulation. Br J Pharmacol. 2017 Nov;174(22):3914-3925. doi: 10.1111/bph.13613. Epub 2016 Oct 4. PMID: 27590129.

Stephenson EJ, Monney P, Longchamps D, Pugliese F, et al. Ineffective and prolonged apical contraction is associated with chest pain and ischaemia in apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Int J Cardiol. 2018 Jan 15;251:65-70. PMID: 29197461.

Protonotarios A, Wicks E, Ashworth M, Stephenson E, et al. Prevalence of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography abnormalities in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. Int J Cardiol. 2019 Jun 1;284:99-104. PMID: 30409737

Fanti S*, Stephenson E*, Rocha-Vieira E, Protonotarios A, et al. Circulating c-Met-expressing memory T-cells define cardiac autoimmunity. Circulation. 2022 Dec;146(25):1930-1945. PMID: 36417924. (*contributed equally)