Dr Karina V Bunting PhD MSc BSc

Dr Karina Bunting

Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences
British Heart Foundation Fellow

Contact details

Address
Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences
Institute of Translational Medicine
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Karina Bunting has recently been awarded a British Heart Foundation career development fellowship.  Dr Bunting is a research fellow at the University of Birmingham and a highly specialised cardiac physiologist in echocardiography at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.  Her work focusses on improving the assessment of heart function in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The fellowship will better define cut-off values for systolic and diastolic dysfunction in patients with AF and validate a more physiology based method of obtaining measurements using echocardiography (the index-beat method), which she developed during her National Institute of Health Research funded PhD.

Dr Bunting has a wider interest in improving the management of patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure which began as the research fellow for the RATE-AF trial (recently published in a top medical journal) .  She has collaborated with leaders in heart failure and atrial fibrillation, including the Beta-blocker and heart failure collaborative group and more recently helping coordinate the European Society of Cardiology funded Stroke prevention and rhythm control Therapy: Evaluation of an Educational Programme of the European society of cardiology in a cluster-Randomised trial in patients with Atrial Fibrillation (STEEER-AF) trial.  Dr Bunting also co-ordinates the Application of artificial intelligence to routine healthcare data to benefit patients with cardiovascular disease (cardAIc) study, which is a collaboration between data scientists, cardiology doctors and clinical scientists (recent publication in the Lancet). 

Qualifications

  • PhD in cardiovascular sciences, University of Birmingham, 2020
  • Clinical scientist, Health and Care Professions Council, 2019-present
  • Member, European Society of Cardiology Association of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions, 2019-present
  • Accreditation in transthoracic echocardiography, British Society of Echocardiography, 2016
  • Completion of NHS Scientist Training Programme, National School of Healthcare Science, 2016
  • MSc Cardiac Clinical Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2016
  • Member of the British Society of Echocardiography, 2015-present
  • Diploma in electrocardiography, Society of Cardiological Science and Technology, 2014
  • BSc in Medical Physiology, University of Leicester, 2013

Biography

Dr Karina Bunting initially developed an interest in cardiovascular science when undertaking a British Physiology Society funded summer studentship, while completing her BSc in Medical Physiology at the University of Leicester (2013). Wishing to pursue this in a clinical setting, she was accepted on to the NHS Scientist Training programme and undertook her training at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and MSc in cardiac clinical science at Manchester Metropolitan University, to become a cardiac physiologist (clinical scientist) in 2016.

In 2016, she enrolled in an NIHR funded PhD at the University of Birmingham, and took on the role as the research fellow for the RATE-AF trial under the supervision of Professor Dipak Kotecha and Professor Richard Steeds.  During her PhD she developed a more reproducible method of measuring heart function in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) called the index-beat method. Through her work on reproducibility she became a member of the British Society of Echocardiography Clinical Standard’s Committee and advised on the Echocardiography Quality Framework.  Her involvement in the Beta-blockers in Heart Failure Collaborative Group developed her skills in systematic reviews and meta-analysis and she continues to lead other systematic reviews including a Cochrane Review.  She has continued her collaborations with the data scientists within Midland Health Data Research-UK and is now the co-ordinator for the cardAIc study at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust.  Dr Bunting is also helping to coordinate the STEEER-AF trial, providing her with unique experience in the practicalities of setting up a multi-centre study, and a cluster randomised trial.

In 2021 she was awarded a British Heart Foundation career development fellowship, to continue her work on improving the assessment of heart function in patients with AF, and develop the skills to lead future studies to benefit patients with AF and heart failure.

Teaching

Echocardiography teaching (clinical)

Postgraduate supervision

  • Supervision of MPharm students

Research

Dr Bunting’s research focusses on improving the assessment of heart function in patients with atrial fibrillation through:

  • Developing more reproducible techniques
  • Improving cut-off values for detection of systolic and diastolic dysfunction
  • Multi-modality validation of measurements of systolic and diastolic dysfunction
  • Applying artificial intelligence approaches for measurements of heart function

Dr Bunting is also involved in several projects to improve the management of patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure:

  • Effect of Digoxin vs Bisoprolol for Heart Rate Control in Atrial Fibrillation on Patient-Reported Quality of Life: The RATE-AF Randomized Clinical Trial
  • Applying machine learning and cluster analysis to better define response to beta-blockers in patients with atrial fibrillation and sinus rhythm
  • STEEER-AF: a cluster-randomized education trial from the ESC: The STEEER-AF trial is designed by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) to see if better education for healthcare professionals can improve how patients are treated and how AF is managed
  • Application of artificial intelligence to routine healthcare data to benefit patients with cardiovascular disease
  • Systematic reviews and meta-analysis of treatments for heart failure and atrial fibrillation
  • Importance of Patient and public involvement

Research groups and centres

Other activities

  • Member of the Clinical Standards committee for the British Society of Echocardiography
  • Highly specialised cardiac physiologist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust

Publications

Karwath A, Bunting KV, Gill SK, Tica O, Pendleton S, Aziz F, Barsky AD, Chernbumroong S, Duan J, Mobley AR, Cardoso VR, Slater L, Williams JA, Bruce EJ, Wang X, Flather MD, Coats AJS, Gkoutos GV, Kotecha D. Redefining β-blocker response in heart failure patients with sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation: a machine learning cluster analysis. Lancet. 2021;398:1427-1435

Bunting KV, Gill SK, Sitch A, Mehta S, O’Connor K, Lip GYH, Kirchhof P, Strauss VY, Rahimi K, Camm AJ, Stanbury M, Griffith M, Townend JN, Gkoutos GV, Karwath A, Steeds RP,  & Kotecha D. Improving the diagnosis of heart failure in patients with atrial fibrillation. HEART 2021

Bunting KV, Stanbury M, Tica O, Kotecha D. Transforming clinical research by involving and empowering patients- the RATE-AF randomized trial. Eur Heart J. 2021;

Bunting KV, O'Connor K, Steeds RP, Kotecha D. Cardiac Imaging to Assess Left Ventricular Systolic Function in Atrial Fibrillation. Am J Cardiol. 2021;139:40-49

Kotecha D, Bunting KV, Gill SK, Mehta S, Stanbury M, Jones JC, Haynes S, Calvert MJ, Deeks JJ, Steeds RP, Strauss VY, Rahimi K, Camm AJ, Griffith M, Lip GYH, Townend JN, Kirchhof P, Rate Control Therapy Evaluation in Permanent Atrial Fibrillation T. Effect of Digoxin vs Bisoprolol for Heart Rate Control in Atrial Fibrillation on Patient-Reported Quality of Life: The RATE-AF Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2020;324:2497-2508

Jones J, Stanbury M, Haynes S, Bunting KV, Lobban T, Camm AJ, Calvert MJ, Kotecha D. Importance and Assessment of Quality of Life in Symptomatic Permanent Atrial Fibrillation: Patient Focus Groups from the RATE-AF Trial. Cardiology. 2020;145:666-675

Bunting KV, Formisano F, Green J, Steeds RP, Hudmsith L, Clift P. Assessing univentricular function in adult Fontan using 3D echocardiography Congenit Heart Dis. 2020

Bunting KV, Van Gelder IC, Kotecha D. STEEER-AF: a cluster-randomized education trial from the ESC: The STEEER-AF trial is designed by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) to see if better education for healthcare professionals can improve how patients are treated and how AF is managed. European Heart Journal. 2020;41:1952-1954

Bunting KV, Kotecha D. Response to the Letter from Dr. Wei Hui, Regarding the Recent Publication of "A Practical Guide to Assess the Reproducibility of Echocardiographic Measurements". J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2020;10.1016/j.echo.2020.06.002

Bunting KV, Steeds RP, Slater LT, Rogers JK, Gkoutos GV, Kotecha D. A Practical Guide to Assess the Reproducibility of Echocardiographic Measurements. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2019;32:1505-1515 

Ingram TE, Baker S, Allen J, Ritzmann S, Bual N, Duffy L, Ellis C, Bunting K, Black N, Peck M, Hothi SS, Sharma V, Pearce K, Steeds RP, Masani N. A patient-centred model to quality assure outputs from an echocardiography department: consensus guidance from the British Society of Echocardiography. Echo Res Pract. 2018;5:G25-g33 

Cleland JGF, Bunting KV, Flather MD, Altman DG, Holmes J, Coats AJS, Manzano L, McMurray JJV, Ruschitzka F, van Veldhuisen DJ, von Lueder TG, Bohm M, Andersson B, Kjekshus J, Packer M, Rigby AS, Rosano G, Wedel H, Hjalmarson A, Wikstrand J, Kotecha D. Beta-blockers for heart failure with reduced, mid-range, and preserved ejection fraction: an individual patient-level analysis of double-blind randomized trials. Eur Heart J. 2018;39:26-35

View all publications in research portal