Cardiology

Prof Ruparelia was awarded his medical degree from University College London in 2004 and an intercalated degree (BSc) in Medical Law receiving numerous prizes and subsequently completed specialist training in general cardiology and specialist coronary and structural through dedicated interventional fellowships in Oxford, London and Milan, Italy.

He was awarded a DPhil (PhD) from Balliol College, University of Oxford and a MSc in interventional cardiology from the San Raffaele Scientific Instiitute in Milan, Italy. He was also the recipient of a British Heart Foundation travel fellowship to the Broad Institute and Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA).

He is the winner of numerous prizes including President's Gold Medical in Cardiology from the Royal Society of Medicine and investigator prizes from the ESC and AHA. He is an author of >150 publications and is regularly invited to speak at both national and International conferences.

In 2017 he was awarded Fellowship of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) and appointed Consultant Cardiologist between the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading and the Hammersmith Hospital, London.

In 2018, he was appointed Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London and in 2020, Visiting Professor at the University of Reading and Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP).

Professor Ruparelia manages all aspects of general cardiology including, chest pain, breathlessness, palpitations, blood pressure and cardiovascular risk optimisation. He has a sub-specialty interest in complex coronary intervention (stent implantation), pacemaker insertion and structural heart intervention including TAVI, PFO/ASD closure and paravalvular leak closure.

Dr James Stirrup graduated from Imperial College, London with degrees in Neuroscience (1999) and Medicine (2002). He underwent postgraduate training in London and Wessex and undertook doctoral research at the Royal Brompton Hospital, winning the National Heart & Lung Institute Thesis Prize in 2014. In the same year, his interest in the interface between clinical practice and the law led to the award a Diploma in Legal Medicine with Distinction by the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine.

He took up his current role as Consultant Cardiologist with a special interest in cardiovascular imaging at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in 2016. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) and has previously sat on the Executive Committees of the British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging, British Nuclear Cardiology Society and SCCT UK International Regional Committee.

Dr Stirrup sees patients with chest pain, breathlessness, palpitation, dizziness and blackouts, as well as known existing conditions including high blood pressure, chronic stable angina, heart valve disease, heart failure and heart rhythm disturbances. He also has an interest in cardiovascular risk reduction, both in general and as it pertains to advanced imaging techniques.

Dr Elkington qualified from St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College in 1997 with degrees in medicine and psychology. He subsequently trained in general internal medicine and cardiology in London, Bristol and Australia. He completed his MD thesis at the Royal Brompton Hospital in the field of cardiac MRI in 2006.

He was appointed Consultant Cardiologist at the Royal Berkshire Hospital and visiting Consultant at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in 2009. He was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 2013 and became the clinical lead for the cardiology department at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in June 2020.

He is highly experienced in all aspects of general cardiology, with particular expertise in non-invasive investigation and management of cardiac conditions. He sees patients with chest pain, breathlessness, palpitations, blackouts and a family history of cardiac disease.

Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and four children

Dr Nicos Spyrou is a Consultant Cardiologist.

He qualified in Medicine at St George's Hospital in London, where he also obtained a BSc in Clinical Pharmacology. He recieved most of this cardiology training at St Mary's and the Hammersmith Hospitals, as well as having worked for Prof Sir Magdi Yacoub at Harefield. Dr Spyrou set up angioplasty in Reading and performed the first procedure in Reading at Battle Hospital in 2003!

Dr Spyrou is involved in all aspects of cardiology, including acute coronary syndromes/primary angioplasty, valvular heart disease, arrhythmias, heart failure etc, with particular interests in: interventional cardiology, which includes permanent pacing, angioplasty, complex angioplasty which could involve, rotablation, intravascular lithotripsy (shockwave treatment of coronaries), OCT (optical coherence tomography) and IVUS (intracoronary ultrasound) as well as treatment of CTOs (chronic total occlusions).

Dr Spyrou is married with one son and one daughter. His wife is a GP in Sonning Common, and a Professor of Primary Care at St George's University. He is a keen tennis player, a great fan of football, and is also an Advanced Open water PADI diver.