2026 Best of the Best Abstracts

In addition to being published in a special edition of our Heart Journal, these are the abstracts with the highest score from each of the 7 clinical abstract themes. They presented their work at the BCS Conference, where they gave an oral presentation in the ‘Best of the Best zone’ in the Education Hall. Based upon the performance of the day, an overall winner was selected, and presented a certificate and prize (£250). 

Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy

  • Winner: Dr Nicholas Black, Underserved communities at risk of heart failure: effectiveness of community-based recruitment strategies and burden of unrecognised cardiovascular disease
  • Runner up: Dr Elton Luo, Where is all the heart failure? A community study
  • Third place: Dr Onur Başeğmez, Serious atrial fibrillation events with SGLT2 inhibitors in heart failure with preserved or mildly reduced ejection fraction: a regulatory-grade systematic review, meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis

 

Imaging

  • Winner: Dr George Collins, Implementing Point-of-Care Ketone Testing and a ‘Three-Zone’ Ketone Interpretation Framework to Predict Dietary Preparation and Myocardial Suppression in FDG PET for Cardiac Inflammation
  • Runner up: Dr Franca Morselli, CMR-ECGI Reveals Occult Electrical Remodeling related to Myocardial Fibrosis in Aging Populations (MyoFit46)
  • Third place: Dr Wenqing Xu, Right Ventricular Deformation by Cardiac MRI improve Risk Stratification in Pediatric and Adolescent Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy: A Multicenter Cohort Study

 

Preventative Cardiology

  • Winner: Dr Mattia Coriano, Gene-exposure interactions regulate cytokine-mediated chronic inflammation and cardiac remodeling

 

Cardiac Rhythm management

  • Winner: Dr Mohammed Zuhair, Beyond Lower Limb Pooling: The Critical Role of Splanchnic Autotransfusion in Vasovagal Syncope
  • Runner up: Dr Soyun Choi, CLINICAL EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC ACCESS DEFIBRILLATORS (PAD) TO CARDIOVERT PATIENTS AND OBTAIN ROSC FOLLOWING SHOCKABLE OUT-OF-HOSPITAL CARDIAC ARREST (OHCA)
  • Third place: Dr Helen Eftekhari, An Innovative Strategy and National Framework for Atrial Fibrillation Care Integration: Early Insights from a Nine-Month Pilot of a Nurse-Led Community Clinic in Coventry and Warwickshire to Reduce the Local Burden

 

Education/Service Improvement and Innovation

  • Winner: Dr Uzma Sajjad, Integrating Bystander Support into the Cardiac Arrest Pathway: 9-month Results of RescQ Feasibility Pilot
  • Runner up: Dr Yousaf Bhatti, A digital chest pain assessment tool to support investigation triage in Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinics: a multi-centre service evaluation
  • Third place: Dr Sushmhitah Sandanatavan, AI-Based Electrocardiogram Interpretation Compared with Clinician Performance: A Structured Literature Review

 

ACHD/Valve Disease/Pericardial Disease/Obstetric related Disease

  • Winner: Dr Saanvi Kiran Rai, Risk score performance and outcome of ventricular tachycardia ablation in repaired tetralogy of fallot
  • Runner up: Dr Maryam Shahzad, Temporal Trends in Outcomes of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement versus Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Low-Risk Patients with Aortic Stenosis: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

 

Interventional and structural cardiology

  • Winner: Dr Jonathan Shurlock, Operator-only image acquisition is non-inferior to radiographer-assisted imaging: A two-centre comparison of procedural radiation dose in the cardiac catheter laboratory

BCS 2026 Awards

Each year, the BCS presents the following awards and prizes at the Annual Conference Networking Reception, Closing Ceremony and BCS President’s Dinner. Below you can see the awards and prize winners awarded at the 2026 BCS Annual Conference.

Mackenzie Medal

The Mackenzie Medal is awarded by the society in recognition of outstanding service to British Cardiology. Two medals are awarded each year. The 2026 recipients were: Professor Mary Sheppard and Professor Bryan Williams.

BCS/BHF/BAS/BSCR Early Career Investigator Award

 

This award (formerly known as the Young Investigator Award) was established by the society in 2001 to recognise excellence among young researchers intending to pursue a career in cardiovascular clinical medicine or research. The prize is currently £1,500 for the winner and £500 for runners up. The award is sponsored by the British Cardiovascular Society, British Heart Foundation (BHF), British Atherosclerosis Society (BAS) and British Society for Cardiovascular Research (BSCR).

If you would like to be considered, please read our guidance on ECIA submission before applying.

The winner of the ECIA for 2026 was: Dr. Oliver Brown

2026 Runner-Ups

  • Dr. Fiyyaz Ahmed-Jushuf
  • Dr. Joseph Barker
  • Dr. Ryan McNally 
  • Dr. Rouchelle Sriranjan

Michael Davies Award

This award (formerly known as Michael Davies Early Career Award) honours researchers who have recently established themselves as independent investigators and who have made an outstanding contribution to cardiovascular science. It is open for applications from clinicians and non-clinicians who have an affiliation with a UK institution. The prize is currently £1,500 and a certificate. The award is sponsored by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

If you would like to be considered, please read our guidance on MDA submission before applying. We encourage applicants who have previously been unsuccessful to re-apply. The 2026 award recipient was: Dr. Paz Tayal

Abstract Archive

2025 Abstracts

The 2025 BOTB winners and runner-ups

ACHD/valve disease/pericardial disease/cardiomyopathy
Winner: Dr Saadia Aslam
Runner up: Dr Henry Procter

Acute coronary syndromes & Interventional Cardiology
Winner: Dr Benn Jessney
Runner up: Ms Anna Kamdar
Runner up: Miss Yasmin Mayet

Allied Health Professionals/Nursing/Health Scientists
Winner: Mr Khelvin Jocson
Runner up: Ms Karen Hann
Runner up: Mrs Stephanie Kirkland

Cardiac Rhythm Management
Winner: Dr Johanna Tonko
Runner up: Dr Olivia Basquill
Runner up: Dr Keenan Saleh

Heart Failure
Winner: Dr Samuel Brown
Runner up: Dr Shamus Husheer
Runner up: Mr Liming Chen

Imaging
Winner: Dr Constantin-Cristian Topriceanu
Runner up: Dr Mehak Asad
Runner up:  Dr  Sher May Ng

Stable IHD/Prevention/Hypertension/Lipids
Winner: Dr Jun Yu Chen
Runner up: Dr Tanisha Burgher
Runner up: Dr Kentaro Yamagata

View the 2025 BCS Annual Conference Abstracts Online

2024 Abstracts

The 2024 BOTB winners and runner-ups

ACHD/valve disease/pericardial disease/cardiomyopathy
Winner: Dr Ishika Prachee
Runner up: Dr Raghav Bhatia
Runner up: Dr Daniel Hammersley

Acute coronary syndromes & Interventional Cardiology
Winner: Dr Sara Khalid
Runner up: Mr Adam Sturge
Runner up: Miss Abeer Zahid

Allied Health Professionals/Nursing/Health Scientists
Winner: Dr Anvesha Singh
Runner up: Mr Andrew Fletcher
Runner up: Ms Hannah Waterhouse

Cardiac Rhythm Management
Winner: Dr Hnin Zaw
Runner up: Mr Adam Sturge
Runner up: Dr Pok-Tin Tang

Heart Failure
Winner: Mr Hugo MacGowan
Runner up: Dr Sam Brown
Runner up: Dr Daniel Hammersley

Imaging
Winner: Dr Wasim Javed
Runner up: Dr Richard Crawley
Runner up:  Dr Tom Newman

Stable IHD/Prevention/Hypertension/Lipids
Winner: Dr Ramesh Nadarajah
Runner up: Dr Angad Kooner
Runner up: Dr Sushant Saluja

View the 2024 BCS Annual Conference Abstracts Online