Biography

Dr Alexander Lyon studied medicine at the University of Oxford where he was awarded a first-class degree in physiological sciences in 1995, achieving second place in the final honours school. After qualifying from the John Radcliffe Medical School in 1998, he trained as a junior doctor in cardiology in Oxford, in London (at Royal Brompton Hospital) and in Sydney, Australia.

He joined the cardiac medicine research group of Professor Sian Harding and Professor Philip Poole-Wilson, where he studied the influence of cardiac gene therapy upon ventricular arrhythmia generation. In 2005, he was awarded an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship.

Shortly later he completed his PhD in 2008, where he spent his first postdoctoral year studying the spatiotemporal patterns of mitochondrial function in the lab of Fadi Akar and Roger Hajjar at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.

He was appointed a Walport Clinical Lecturer in Cardiology at Imperial College London in October 2008, and he completed his cardiology training at St Mary’s Hospital and Royal Brompton Hospital.

In 2012, Dr Lyon was appointed a senior lecturer and consultant cardiologist at Royal Brompton Hospital.

Clinical expertise

Dr Alexander Lyon’s clinical expertise includes:

• heart failure
• cardiovascular diseases caused by cancer treatments, known as cardio-oncology
• chemotherapy-induced heart failure
• Takotsubo syndrome
• cardiac gene therapy
• novel molecular and biological therapies for heart failure.

He runs a specialist clinic for patients with Takotsubo syndrome focusing on risk prediction and management of refractory symptoms.

He is also:

• clinical lead for the cardio-oncology service, Royal Brompton Hospital (2011-present)
• chair of UK Cardio-Oncology Consortium (2012- present)
• a member of Heart Failure Association Translational Research Committee (ESC: 2012-present).

Diseases, Medical Tests and Treatments

• Hypertension
• Heart valve disease
• Coronary artery disease
• Cardiomyopathy
• Cardio-Oncology - heart problems in cancer patients and cancer survivors
• Takotsubo syndrome
• Chest pain
• Breathlessness
• Palpitations (racing heart)
• Dizzy spells
• General cardiac health checks to guide risk factor management