Biography of Dr Alan Fraser

Educated at:
Aberdeen Grammar School, Aberdeen, and George Watson's College, Edinburgh, Scotland; and Baroda High School, Baroda, Gujarat, India
University of Edinburgh Medical School

Medical Postgraduate Education:
Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Cardiff and Rotterdam.

Qualifications:
BSc, MB ChB (University of Edinburgh 1975)
FRCPE Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1994)
FRCP Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London (1996)
FESC Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (1993)

Employment:
Reader in Cardiology, Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff University, and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK.

Research interests:
Heart valve disease; ventriculo-arterial coupling; early diagnosis of myocardial disease; regional myocardial function in ageing, hypertension, and heart failure; and quantitative diagnosis of myocardial stunning, ischaemia, and viability.

Selected publications:

• Differentiation between pathologic and physiologic left ventricular hypertrophy by tissue Doppler assessment of long-axis function in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or systemic hypertension in athletes. Vinereanu D, Florescu N, Sculthorpe N, Tweddel AC, Stephens MR, Fraser AG. Am J Cardiol 2001;88:53-8.
• Subclinical right ventricular dysfunction in cystic fibrosis. A study using tissue Doppler echocardiography. Ionescu AA, Ionescu A-A, Payne N, Obieta-Fresnedo I, Fraser AG, Shale DJ. Am J Resp Crit Care Med 2001;163:1212-8.
• Subclinical left ventricular dysfunction in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, related to serum lipids and glycated haemoglobin. Vinereanu D, Nicolaides E, Tweddel AC, Mädler CF, Holst B, Boden LE, Cinteza M, Rees JAE, Fraser AG. Clinical Science 2003; 105: 591-599.
• Incidence of embolism and paravalvar leak after St Jude Silzone valve implantation: experience from the Cardiff Embolic Risk Factor Study. Ionescu A, Payne N, Fraser AG, Giddings J, Grunkemeier GL, Butchart EG. Heart 2003;89:1055-1061.
• Feasibility and reproducibility of off-line tissue Doppler measurement of regional myocardial function during dobutamine stress echocardiography. Fraser AG, Payne N, Mädler CF, Janerot-Sjøberg B, Lind B, Grocott-Mason RM, Ionescu AA, Florescu N, Wilkenshoff U, Lancellotti P, Wütte M, Brodin L-Å. Eur J Echocardiogr 2003;4:43-53.
• Reduced myocardial velocities of left ventricular long-axis contraction identify both systolic and diastolic heart failure – a comparison with brain natriuretic peptide. Vinereanu D, Lim PO, Frenneaux MP, Fraser AG. Eur J Heart Failure 2005;7:512-519.
• "Pure" diastolic dysfunction is associated with long-axis systolic dysfunction. Implications for the diagnosis and classification of heart failure. Vinereanu D, Nicolaides E, Tweddel AC, Fraser AG. Eur J Heart Fail 2005;7:820-828.
• Myocardial acceleration during isovolumic contraction as a marker for coronary artery disease during dobutamine stress echocardiography. Pauliks L, Vogel M, Mädler CF, Williams RI, Payne N, Redington AN, Fraser AG. Echocardiography 2005; 22: 797-808.
• A new scoring system to determine thromboembolic risk after heart valve replacement. Butchart EG, Ionescu A, Payne N, Giddings J, Grunkemeier GL, Fraser AG. Circulation 2003; 108: II 68-74.
• Non-invasive diagnosis of coronary artery disease by quantitative stress echocardiography – optimal diagnostic models using off-line tissue Doppler in the MYDISE study. Mädler CF, Payne N, Wilkenshoff U, Cohen A, Derumeaux GA, Piérard LA, Engvall J, Brodin L-Å, Sutherland GR, Fraser AG. European Heart Journal 2003; 24: 1584-1594.
• Electrical and mechanical components of dysynchrony in heart failure patients with normal QRS duration and left bundle-branch block: impact of left and biventricular pacing. Turner MS, Bleasdale RA, Vinereanu D, Mumford CE, Paul V, Fraser AG, Frenneaux MP. Circulation 2004; 109: 2544-2549.
• Metabolic modulation with perhexiline in chronic heart failure. A randomized, controlled trial of short-term use of a novel treatment. Lee L, Campbell R, Scheuermann-Freestone M, Taylor R, Gunaruwan P, Williams L, Ashrafian H, Horowitz J, Fraser AG, Clarke K, Frenneaux M. Circulation 2005; 112: 3280-3288.
• Reduced left ventricular functional reserve in hypertensive patients with preserved function at rest. Kozakova M, Fraser AG, Buralli S, Magagna A, Salvetti A, Ferrannini E, Palombo C. Hypertension 2005; 45: 619-624.
• Strain rate imaging after dynamic stress provides objective evidence of persistent regional myocardial dysfunction in ischaemic myocardium: regional stunning identified? Williams RI, Payne N, Phillips T, D’Hooge J, Fraser AG. Heart 2005; 91: 152-160.