Marco Perez
Marco Perez, MD’s research goals are to better understand the fundamental causes of cardiovascular disease through the study of genetics and epidemiology. Dr. Perez’s group studies the relationships between electrocardiographic markers, clinical risk factors and cardiovascular outcomes such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure and cardiovascular death. He was co-PI of the Apple Heart Study, a clinical trial using the Apple Watch to screen for atrial fibrillation and has developed an interest in using modern consumer devices and algorithms to predict and monitor for arrhythmic disease. He is currently collaborating with other institutions on REACT-AF, a large NIH-sponsored clinical trial testing the use of a smartwatch in guiding anticoagulant therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation. His laboratory uses deep learning algorithms on large electrocardiographic and imaging datasets to better predict cardiovascular disease. He has studied how to best use the electrocardiogram to identify patients at risk for cardiovascular death, atrial fibrillation and athletes at risk for life-threatening arrhythmias due to conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. His laboratory also studies the genetic causes of inherited arrhythmic conditions. His genetic studies have led to the discovery of promising novel therapeutic targets that his group is now studying at a functional level. Dr. Perez receives funding from NIH/NHLBI, Apple Inc., the Weston Havens Foundation, The Stanford Cardiovascular Division and the Stanford SPARK program.