Natalia Trayanova, the Murray B. Sachs Professor of Biomedical Engineering and ICM core faculty member, has been selected to receive the Heart Rhythm Society’s (HRS) Distinguished Scientist Award. Trayanova will be honored at the Society’s 40th Scientific Sessions in San Francisco this May.

The HRS, a leading resource on cardiac pacing and electrophysiology, is dedicated to improving the care of patients by promoting research, education and optimal health care policies and standards. They represent specialty organizations and medical, allied health, and science professionals from more than 70 countries who specialize in cardiac rhythm disorders. The HRS’s Distinguished Scientist Award recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of scientific knowledge in the field of cardiac pacing and/or cardiac electrophysiology.

Trayanova, who pioneered the use of 3-D virtual replicas of the heart and its electrical function that are personalized to individual patients with certain heart conditions, is studying ways to more precisely predict who is at risk for sudden death or stroke from ventricular or atrial fibrillation, two types of irregular heartbeats, as well as determine what the optimal treatment is for these disorders. This fall, along with SOM cardiologist, Hugh Calkins, she launched the Alliance for Cardiovascular Diagnostic and Treatment Innovation, a research effort that aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment of heart rhythm disorders that affect millions of people by leveraging innovations in cardiac imaging, computer simulations, and data science.