Prof. dr N.M.S. (Natasja) de Groot, PhD

Prof. Dr. Natasja MS de Groot, FEHRA works as senior cardiologist-electrophysiologist. She is appointed as full-time professor in the Erasmus Medical Center and the Technical University in Delft. She is also a Medical Delta Professor. She is experienced in device implantations and catheter ablation procedures with a variety of mapping/ablation technologies including remote magnetic/robotic navigation and a diversity of electro-anatomical mapping techniques. Main foci of her clinical work include: 1) catheter ablation of complex tachyarrhythmias such as post-operative tachyarrhythmias in patients with congenital heart disease, 2) catheter ablation in paediatric patients.

Her research projects are aimed at unravelling the pathophysiology of complex cardiac tachyarrhythmias, developing and testing developing novel diagnostic tools (in close collaboration with TU Delft) and therapies for cardiac arrhythmias. Main research topics are high resolution mapping studies of cardiac arrhythmias in particular atrial fibrillation, mechanisms of (post-operative) atrial fibrillation, dysrhythmias in patients with congenital heart disease and neuromodulation of atrial fibrillation. For this purpose, she has developed a unique way of recording and processing cardiac signals to perform mapping procedures.

Her innovative scientific contributions include:

• discovery of novel mechanisms underlying persistence of atrial fibrillation
• introduction endovascular mapping approach guiding ablative therapy of atrial tachyarrhythmias in patients with congenital heart disease
• development of a novel, intra- operative epicardial mapping approach.
• discovery of the role of Bachmann’s bundle in development of atrial tachyarrhythmias
• performed worldwide the first high resolution mapping studies in pediatric patient
• discovery conduction properties in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease

She was trained in clinical electrophysiology at the Leiden University Medical Center under supervision of Prof. Dr. Schalij and in experimental electrophysiology at the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht under supervision of Prof. Dr. Allessie. She obtained her PhD in both clinical and experimental electrophysiology; the title of her thesis was ‘Mapping and Ablation of Atrial TachyArrhythmias; from Signal to Substrate’. In 2009, she moved to Erasmus Medical Center to establish her own research group.

She founded the research unit translational electrophysiology. Her research program was in 2018 rewarded with the prestigious VIDI-grant. In 2019, she became director of the Medical Delta Cardiac Arrhythmia Lab, a multidisciplinary research team including medical doctors, engineers, biologists, patients and companies. In 2020, she established together with Dr. Y. Taverne (cardiothoracic surgeon) the Erasmus Center Cardiac Morphology and Electrophysiology. In 2020, she established one of the Convergence Programs Deep Imaging together with Prof. Dr. N. de Jong.

Present composition of her research group

She is currently supervisor of 31 PhDs student, 8 master students and 10 bachelor/master students of medicine, technical medicine and physics. Her research unit offers research internships for master students/bachelor students of medicine, technical medicine (TU Twente, TU Delft), (technical) information technology (Hoge School Rotterdam) Junior medschool students. In addition, she has several multi-disciplinary, (inter)national collaborations (e.g. electrical, biomechanical engineering and molecular biology).

Publicaties Prof. Dr. N.M.S. de Groot

Prof. Dr. de Groot is experienced in lecturing, developing and organizing/managing educational programmes for students in medicine -both in the bachelors and master’s program-, co-assistants’, cardiologist in training and fellow’s electrophysiology. Additionally, she has organized (international) symposia for cardiologists, electrophysiologists, general practitioners, nursing home doctors and geriatricians. She has been trainer electrophysiology from 2014 to 2015.

She also organizes internships for students of technical medicine (TU Twente, TU Delft), (technical) information technology, marketing and management and multi-media technology (Hogeschool Rotterdam), Junior Med School students (EUR) and minor students (TU Delft). She is coordinator of the block advanced signal processing in the master clinical technology (EMC, LUCM, TU Delft) and she was part of the visitation committee of the master clinical technology. She also teaches in Vector (Association Extracurricular Cardiology and Thoracic Surgery Education Rotterdam).

Examples of Grants

• 2020 British-Dutch-German Heart Foundation Grant
• 2020 ZonMW Preventieprogramma
• 2019 MRace, EMC, consortium,
• 2019 Medical Delta Research Grant
• 2018 Coolstichting Singel Foundation
• 2017 VIDI
• 2016 CVON grant (NHS-STW)
• 2014 EU LSH-impulse grant
• 2013 Coolsingel Foundation
• 2011 Dutch Heart Foundation, Jr Staff member
• 2010 Erasmus MC fellowship
• 2013 Thorax Foundation

Examples of prizes

• 2019 selected as one of the 24 female heroes in sciences by the Erasmus university
• 2002 Einthoven Young Investigators Award, second price
• 2000 Dutch Society of Cardiology, poster presentation award
• 2000 Leiden Young Investigators Award

External Positions - National

1. director and co-founder Atrial Fibrillation Innovation Platform (AFIP)
2. director Medical Delta Cardiac Arrhythmia Lab (EMC-TUD-LUMC)
3. chairmen committee project group Dutch AF Guidelines 2018-2020
4. member selection committee Dutch Heart Foundation (2016-2018-2022)
5. associate editor Netherlands Heart Journal

External Positions - International

1. EHRA board member Website and E-Communication Committee 2018-2020
2. EHRA representative in ESC E-cardiology working group 2017-2019
3. ESC committee member, ESC Media Committee 2018 – 2020
4. member selection committee European Research Council, starting grant panel LS7 “Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics and Public Health”, 2019-2021.
5. member international case review committee of the pediatric and congenital electrophysiology society (PACES)
6. member Scientific Committee PACES/ISACHD ACHD-EP, focus groups
7. Chair AF document: Critical Appraisal of Technologies to Assess Electrical Activity during Atrial Fibrillation
8. reviewer variety international (electrophysiology) journals
9. reviewer ESC GUCH and AF guideline
10. abstract grader European Society of Cardiology, European Heart Rhythm Association and Congress of the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society, American College of Cardiology, Computers in Cardiology
11. Editorial board JACC EP
12. Member Organizing committee Emirates Cardiac Society joined with the ESC; ESC group leader Electrophysiology 2020.
13. Member program committee, Computers in Cardiology, 2019,2020

Links

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-dr-natasja-de-groot-md-phd-emc-65760662/
• https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Natasja_Groot
• https://twitter.com/nmsdegroot
• https://afiponline.org
• https://cas.tudelft.nl/People/bio.php?id=715
• https://www.medicaldelta.nl/onderzoek/medical-delta-cardiac-arrhythmia-lab

Unit translational electrophysiology, department of cardiology, Theme Thorax 

Medical Delta Cardiac Arrhythmia Lab

Atrial Fibrillation Innovation Platform

Academic center of Cardiac Morphology and Electrophysiology

Cardiac Bioelectricity Laboratory