Professor Dr. Kamalan Jeevaratnam

Recipient of Outstanding Contribution to Science, Technology & Innovation 2014

Institution

University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

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Mechanistic insight for cardiac cellular therapy using stem cells

Health, Science and Technology

Dato' Professor Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman

Recipient for Year 2022

Something that is worth doing is often tough, but the rewards can be big.

Harmony in Heartbeats: Dr. Kamalan Jeevaratnam's Cutting-Edge Research on Cardiology

Dr. Kamalan Jeevaratnam is a Reader in Clinical Physiology and Head of Department (Preclinical Sc) based at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, UK and was previously a Lead in Physiology at the School of Medicine, PU-RCSI based in Kuala Lumpur.

His research entitled “Mechanistic Insight for Cardiac Cellular Therapy Using Stem Cells” centers on human and veterinary cardiology, with an emphasis on developing clinical risk prediction approaches for arrhythmic conditions and biomarker discovery for coronary artery disease. His pursuits include integrative physiology, novel therapeutic agent discoveries, human-animal interface research, and medical education.

The cardiac electrophysiologist by training holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, an MMedSc from the International Medical University, and the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University Putra Malaysia, and was admitted to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS), UK, in 2011.

Straight from the heart

Dr. Kamalan's primary clinical focus lies in companion animal medicine, with a special interest in cardiology. “My work involves the use of integrative electrophysiological techniques, molecular cardiology and computational approaches,” explains Dr. Kamalan.

Dr. Kamalan is dedicated to utilising integrative physiology techniques to understand the mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmia and developing risk stratification strategies for clinical practice. This involves the identification and characterisation of novel ion channel and receptor genes through functional analysis, using gene targeting, and the invasive analysis of cardiac arrhythmia substrates in patients.

Networking: A stepping-stone in one’s researcher career

As the 2014 Merdeka Award Grant for International Attachment recipient, Dr. Kamalan was attached to the University of Cambridge’ Anne McLaren Laboratory of Regenerative Medicine. The grant enabled him to work with great minds and do actual laboratory work at a world-renowned university, however Dr. Kamalan considers the opportunity to network with a variety of top professors within the university and externally as the greatest experience during his attachment.

“I now can say comfortably that I know at least 4 world-renowned cardiology researchers and professors, whom I am now trying to build relationships with and trying to extend and do more research with them, and that’s probably the most significant aspect of the Merdeka Grant that I have been able to benefit from”, said Dr. Kamalan.

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Other Recipients

Outstanding Contribution to Science, Technology & Innovation

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