Heart World Conference 2026

Biography

Dr. Kafa Walweel is a cardiovascular researcher and electrophysiologist affiliated with the University of Queensland (UQ) and The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. She is a Research Fellow/Senior Research Officer within the Prince Charles Hospital Northside Clinical Unit and is also affiliated with UQ’s Centre for Cardiovascular Health and Research.

Dr. Walweel’s research focuses on cardiac electrophysiology, calcium signaling, and the regulation of ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2) calcium-release channels in the heart. Her work investigates how abnormal RyR2 function contributes to cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure, and sudden cardiac death, as well as how pharmacological interventions can restore normal cardiac rhythm.

She has expertise in single-channel recording, bilayer studies, and biochemistry, using molecular and physiological approaches to understand the mechanisms underlying arrhythmia development. Her research has particular relevance to heart failure and catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT).

Dr. Walweel has contributed to research published in prominent cardiovascular and biomedical journals, including the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation Research, Molecular Pharmacology, Journal of General Physiology, and Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.

Her research interests include reducing the burden of arrhythmias and sudden death, identifying novel cardiovascular therapeutic targets, developing medicines to prevent sudden cardiac death, and translating molecular discoveries into clinical applications. She has also been involved in research aimed at advancing knowledge of the causes of sudden death in patients with heart failure.

Maxine Deeb, P. Molenaar and K. Walweel,

Cardio-Vascular Molecular & Therapeutics Translational Research Group, Clinical School of Medicine, University of Queensland, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Australia