Prof Roby Devasish Rakhit

Biography

Professor Roby Rakhit is a senior consultant cardiologist at the Royal Free Hospital London and Professor of cardiology at the Institute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London.

As Divisional Clinical Director and Head of cardiology at the Royal Free he contributed to clinical and executive leadership roles whilst also leading an active clinical research and teaching programme.

He has a major interest in the treatment of acute coronary syndrome (heart attack) and was instrumental in setting up the Royal Free Heart Attack Centre. This was one of the first units in the UK to provide 24/7 immediate angioplasty/stenting treatment for patients presenting with life threatening heart attack.

He is an expert in interventional cardiology including coronary angiography, complex percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, coronary angioplasty and stenting).

Professor Rakhit qualified in 1991 from Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, Imperial College London, with a first class honours intercalated degree in pharmacology. He began his general cardiology training in 1995 as a rotating cardiology registrar (fellow) at the Hammersmith, Royal Brompton and St. Marys hospitals.

In 1998, funded by the Wellcome Trust, he completed a two year doctorate (MD thesis) at the Rayne Institute, St.Thomas` Hospital on the cellular physiology of nitric oxide in conferring myocardial protection against ischemia.

In 2000 he was awarded a prestigious British Heart Foundation International Fellowship and undertook a further one year period of clinical research with advanced interventional training at the Swiss Cardiovascular Centre, Bern under the supervision of Prof. Bernhard Meier.

​In 2004 he was appointed as consultant cardiologist to the Royal Free Hospital and Honorary Senior Lecturer at University College London. In 2008 he was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Elected to Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology in 2019. In 2020 he was promoted to Professor of Cardiology, Institute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London.

​He combines a busy clinical job with teaching and research within UCL as a  Professor at University College London (UCL) Medical School, having supervised a number of MD and PhD fellows. He subspecialises in interventional cardiology including coronary angiography, complex coronary angioplasty/stent insertion and pacemakers.

​Professor Rakhit is very patient focused and strongly believes in providing a high quality, evidence-based and individualised approach to patient care and He has a broad based training in all aspects of general cardiology with particular expertise in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of coronary heart disease.