Dr. Rakesh Gopinathannair, MD, MA, FHRS, is board certified cardiac electrophysiologist, and is currently Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology (EP) Laboratories at the Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute (KCHRI), and Professor of Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Gopinathannair is immediate past Chair of Heart Rhythm Society Communications Committee and American Heart Association (AHA) Electrocardiography and Arrhythmias Committee. He has served on the HRS communications committee, program Committee, COVID-19 task force, and as faculty for HRS Core Concepts in EP.
Prior to joining KCHRI, Dr. Gopinathannair served as Assistant Professor (2010-2015), Associate Professor (2015-2018) and Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology (2013-2018) at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Louisville, Kentucky. While at the University of Louisville, he served as Chair of the National Electrophysiology Clinical Standards Committee for Catholic Health Initiatives (currently CommonSpirit Health) from 2013-2016, a large national healthcare organization with 97 hospitals across the country and was instrumental in developing EP clinical standards and quality metrics across this large healthcare network.
He serves as Associate Editor for Heart Rhythm Case Reports. He peer-reviews for leading cardiovascular journals such as JACC, European Heart Journal, Heart Rhythm, JACC EP, Circulation Research, JAHA and Circ: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, among others. Dr. Gopinathannair has served as a writing group member, section lead, and peer-reviewer for AHA/ACC/HRS and AHRQ guidelines, writing committee Chair for HRS state-of-the-art reviews and AHA Scientific Statements. He has published >400 peer-reviewed articles and abstract presentations, along with several book chapters, and have been an invited speaker at numerous national and international meetings. His research interests mainly focus on implantable device therapy and complex arrhythmias in patients with advanced heart failure and Left Ventricular Assist Devices, arrhythmia Induced Cardiomyopathies, atrial fibrillation and heart Failure, autonomic modulation for vasovagal syncope, and cardiac arrhythmic manifestations of COVID-19.