Axel Loewe, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Axel Loewe heads the Computational Cardiac Modeling Group at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology with a focus on cardiac electrophysiology and biomechanics. His group is committed to method development and the application of computational models to answer questions of clinical relevance at the intersection of engineering, computer science, and medicine. To develop methods and conduct simulation studies, methods of software engineering, algorithmics, numerics, signal processing, data analysis, and machine learning are used. Axel has a track record of fruitful collaboration with leading clinicians to optimize diagnosis and therapy of cardiac diseases.

Armin Luik, Städtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe

Armin Luik heads the department of electrophysiology at the municipal hospital in Karlsruhe. He has a major interest in research on atrial arrhythmias. He is member of the German Society of Cardiology and the European Society for Cardiology. After finishing his medical degree he spend the beginning of his career in the German Heart Center in Munich and in 2007 started his work in the Municipal hospital in Karlsruhe. Armin completed his state doctorate in 2018 at the university of Freiburg. He actively contributes to international research project and has close collaborations with several university and industry partners to advance the treatment and basic understanding of atrial arrhythmias. A large number of publications and active conference participations in the field of arrhythmia assessment, classification as well as new treatment technologies are proof of his continued work. 

Olaf Dössel, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Olaf Dössel was born in Lübeck in 1954. After studying physics and completing his doctorate, Olaf Dössel began his professional career at Philips in Hamburg in 1982. In 1985 he became head of the research department for measurement technologies at Philips research laboratory. Under his leadership, a new research area was established: imaging bioelectric sources with SQUID multi-channel magnetometers. In 1996, he was appointed full professor at University of Karlsruhe, now Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT, and became head of the Institute for Biomedical Engineering until his retirement in 2022.

Olaf Dössel is an expert in electrophysiological heart modeling and computer modeling of the heart. He is further working in the field of ECG biosignal processing and computer assisted analysis of electrograms (intracardiac ECG) – also employing methods of machine learning. He is considered an internationally recognized expert in the field of atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation. Finally, he investigates how the electrophysiological sources on the heart can be reconstructed from multi-channel ECG measurements (inverse problem of electrocardiography).

Olaf Dössel is a fellow of many scientific societies in the field of biomedical engineering and a member of several international advisory committees.

Uli Schotten, Maastricht University

Ulrich (Uli) Schotten, MD, PhD
Prof. of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Chair of Physiology
Principal Investigator on the Pathophysiology of Atrial Fibrillation

Professor Schotten studied medicine at the universities of Aachen, Glasgow, and Valetta. After 4 years of training in cardiology at the University Hospital of Aachen, he defended his thesis “Mechanisms of Atrial Paralysis in Atrial Fibrillation” at Maastricht University.
In 2011, he was appointed professor of cardiac electrophysiology at the Department of Physiology in Maastricht and became chair of the Department in 2019. His research interests include cellular and integrated actions of antiarrhythmic drugs, the development of substrates for the perpetuation of atrial fibrillation, invasive and non-invasive quantification of the substrate of atrial fibrillation, interaction between atrial fibrillation and activation of the coagulation system, and three-dimensional computer models of atrial fibrillation. His research group is imbedded in the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM) where he serves as board member, as chairman of the Strategic Board and as PI for the translational research programme on atrial firbillation. He is coordinator of the Dutch AF networks RACE V and EmbRACE and PI in numerous national and international research networks. He published >290 research articles and served as member of the European task force for the development of the ESC guidelines for management of atrial fibrillation in 2010, 2012, and 2016. Furthermore, he is member of the Executive Committee of the Network of Competence for Atrial Fibrillation (AFNET) and co-founder of the Maastricht University spin-off company YourRhythmics BV.

Dominik Linz, Maastricht University/MUMC+

Prof. Dr. Dominik Linz is a clinician-scientist who received his PhD from the University of Maastricht, The Netherlands, in 2013 (Prof Schotten). After completing a Cardiology training at the University Hospital in Homburg/Saar, Germany (Prof Böhm), he has been recruited as an A/Prof and clinical EP-fellow to Adelaide to initiate and drive a translational research program focusing on atrial fibrillation and sleep disordered breathing in 2017. Over the past years Prof. Dominik Linz has developed a National and International reputation in the field of cardiac arrhythmia research.
On 1 January 2022, he has been appointed as Professor of Lifestyle Factors in Cardiac Arrhythmia at the department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen as part of the research theme “Physiology of Circulation, Kidney and Lungs”. On 1 January 2024, he has been appointed as a full professor at Maastricht University in Comprehensive Atrial Fibrillation Management.

Kevin Vernooy, Maastricht University/MUMC+

Professor Kevin Vernooy is a clinical electrophysiologist and head of the department of Cardiology at the Maastricht University Medical Center.  He was trained as a cardiologist and as electrophysiologist at het Maastricht University Medical Center as well. His clinical work very much focusses on ablation of atrial fibrillation and complex device implantations, i.e. cardiac resynchronization therapy and conduction system pacing. His research focusses on the invasive treatment of arrhythmias in patients with heart failure.

Stef Zeemering, Maastricht University

Dr. Stef Zeemering has an academic background in applied mathematics and computer science and obtained his master’s degree in operations research from Maastricht University. His professional journey includes a blend of industry experience and academic research, initially working as a mathematical consultant before moving into doctoral studies. His PhD research at Maastricht University focused on sparse optimization in mathematical systems theory, a field that bridges advanced mathematics with practical applications in systems engineering. Subsequently, he returned to the industry, contributing as a scientific software engineer at Maastricht Instruments, where he leveraged his expertise in algorithm development and systems analysis. In 2011, he transitioned to the Department of Physiology at Maastricht University, initially as a postdoctoral researcher and subsequently as an assistant professor. His research here explores the interdisciplinary application of mathematical and computational techniques in cardiac physiology, especially in the study of atrial fibrillation (AF). His research interests encompass the use of signal processing methodologies, parameter estimation techniques, and machine learning algorithms in a systems biology approach to the multiscale assessment of atrial fibrillation substrate complexity. This includes the prediction of AF progression and outcomes, employing both invasive measurements from the atria (cardiac mapping, histology, and transcriptomics) and noninvasive techniques such as large-scale advanced electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis.

Jolanda Gulpen, Maastricht University

Jolanda is a management assistant at the department of Physiology at Maastricht University as of 1 May 2019. She studied hotel management at the Hotel School in Heerlen and in later years, she studied as a legal assistant in Breda and office management in Amsterdam. For more than 15 years, she worked as a senior executive assistant at Deloitte where she gained a lot of work experience. She worked in the UK, Ipswich and in the Netherlands.
Her organizational skills combined with her legal and office management background are of great importance in her current position. With Dutch, Italian and German roots, she feels very much at home in an international environment.