Biography

Dr Robert Smith is a consultant interventional cardiologist who treats private and NHS patients at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals.

He studied at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School (now part of Queen Mary, University of London), qualifying in 1999. He then continued with specialist cardiology training at:

• Harefield Hospital (2003 - 2005)
• Ealing and Queen Elizabeth II hospitals (2005 - 2007)
• Hammersmith Hospital (2007 - 2008)
• Harefield Hospital (2008 - present)
• Royal Brompton Hospital (2017 - present).

In 2009, he gained his MD at the University of London with his thesis: Myocardial Protection: The Contributions of Ischaemic and Pharmacological Preconditioning, the Warm-up Phenomenon and the Coronary Collateral Circulation.

Areas of expertise

Dr Robert Smith is the lead for the structural heart programme at Royal Brompton & Harefield hospitals as well as the chair of both the mitral valve care groups. Dr Smith runs the most experienced MitraClip team in the UK, and he has performed in excess of 200 cases. The transcatheter mitral programme led by Dr Smith is one of the most established and innovative in the World.

His areas of expertise include: 

• alcohol septal ablation (ASA)
• coronary angioplasty and stenting
• coronary angiography
• heart failure
• left ventricular outflow obstruction
• implantation of permanent pacemakers
• mitral valve disease and intervention
• MitraClip
• right heart catheterisation
• transcatheter mitral intervention. 

Research interests and projects

Dr Smith is involved in several research areas and has been nominated as:

• as a principle investigator (UK) of the CorCinch trial, specifically the study that investigates the use of an AccuCinch left ventricular device (Ancora Heart, USA) in heart failure and secondary mitral regurgitation
• an investigator of the LANDMARK study (Myval, Meril)
• an investigator of the APOLLO trial, specifically in a randomised study of the Intrepid (Medtronic, USA) transapical TMVR versus conventional surgery. 

Dr Smith has also participated in peri-procedural haemodynamics during percutaneous mitral valve repair with MitraClip.

Many multiple abstracts have been accepted by international conferences, where he also has presented. 

Teaching

Dr Robert Smith is responsible for teaching Imperial College London undergraduate students on placements at Harefield and Hillingdon hospitals. He teaches on the practical assessment of clinical examination skills (PACES) courses at these hospitals as well. He runs a two-week programme of teaching throughout the year.

He is co-directs the Harefield primary angioplasty meeting with Dr Miles Dalby. This is an annual meeting where live cases are discussed with staff involved in primary angioplasty.

He has taught others how to perform transcatheter procedures, such as MitraClip, across the world.

He has recently presented at many national and international speaking events, including:

• Advanced Coronary Intervention, London (2018 and 2019)
• Heart Live, keynote lecture, Manchester (2019)
• Future of Heart Failure, The Royal College of Physicians, London (2018)
• Complications in PCI, Vapi, India (2017)
• Mitral Intervention, Kuwait City (2018). 

Private patient referral 

If you would like to make an appointment with this specialist for private care, contact the RB&HH Specialist care team.