Prof. William Mc Kenna
CEO of the Heart Hospital
Professor McKenna is CEO and Medical Director of the Heart Hospital, HMC Institutional Officer for Research and Chairman of the HMC Research Governance Committee. He is also Associate Dean for Research - Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Emeritus Professor of Cardiology - University College London, Honorary Professor of Medicine - University of Aberdeen, and Adjunct Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale University.
Prof. McKenna was born in Canada, completed a BA at Yale University, and then graduated from McGill University Medical School with Internal Medicine training at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, and Cardiology training at the Hammersmith Hospital/Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London.
Prior to coming to Qatar, he established the Inherited Cardiac Disease clinic at St George’s Hospital – University of London and subsequently at the Heart Hospital – University College London, where he was Divisional Clinical Director from 2004 to 2008, Founder Director – Institute of Cardiovascular Science from 2008 to 2011, and Program Director (Cardiovascular) for UCL Partners from 2009 to 2014.
Prof. McKenna’s main interests have been in clinical and basic research of the cardiomyopathies. His recent work has contributed to the identification of disease-causing genes in hypertrophic, arrhythmogenic and dilated cardiomyopathy, to the establishment of new diagnostic criteria within the context of familial disease in cardiomyopathy, and to the establishment of algorithms to identify patients at high risk of sudden death. Prof. McKenna has a distinguished academic track record with more than 500 peer review research papers (h-index 105) and 250 major book chapters, reviews and editorials.