Top 5 Winners of the David E. Haines EP Fellows Research Competition: Western AF Symposium 2025

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The winners of the David E Haines EP Fellows Research Competition were announced at the 2025 Western Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Symposium.

This award is intended to support research of first- and second-year clinical fellows currently training in an ACGME electrophysiology fellowship program in the United States. Applicants submitted a scientific poster based on their research to Western AFib. A committee of faculty judges reviewed each submission, and the top fellows were invited to attend the Western AFib Symposium to present their research. Each of these fellows received a travel scholarship, complimentary registration to attend the meeting, and the chance to compete for cash prizes. The competition was sponsored by Medtronic and J&J MedTech. This year's competition was moderated by Sana Al-Khatib, MD, MHS, with discussants Tina Baykaner, MD, MPH, Pierre Jais, MD, and Andrea M. Russo, MD. 

The winners were as follows: 

First Place: Risk Factors for Development of Atrial Fibrillation on Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy

Speaker - Muhammad Fazal, et al, Stanford University

Second Place: Reduced Regional Brain Metabolism in Stroke-Free Atrial Fibrillation Patients: Insights From a Pilot FDG-PET Study

Speaker - Gabriel Targueta, et al, Brazilian Cardiac Arrhythmia Society

Third Place: Atrial FDG Avidity is Associated With Incident Atrial Fibrillation Independent of Cardiac Sarcoid Status

Speaker - Romanos Haykal, et al, University of Washington

Fourth Place: 

Cryoballoon Pulmonary Vein Isolation Using the PolarX Fit Double Stack vs Standard Technique

Speaker - Seth Kibel, University of Toronto

Impact of Repeat Ablation Compared to Cardioversion After Index Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation

Speaker - Ala Assaf, et al, Tulane Research Innovation for Arrhythmia Discovery

All posters from Western AF 2025 will be available online shortly. Congratulations to these outstanding clinicians!