Assoc. Prof. John Amerena trained in Melbourne before spending four years in the United States at the University of Michigan. He is now a Cardiologist at Barwon Health, and currently has appointments in the Medical School, Deakin University and the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. He is the director of the Geelong Cardiology Research Unit which is currently involved in many phase II-III clinical trials and is interested in research into atherothrombosis, in particular with respect to antithrombotic/antiplatelet therapies, especially in the context of atrial fibrillation. Heart failure is also a major interest and he is the Director of the Heart Failure and AF services at Barwon Health. He has been on the steering committee of several of the major trials in these areas as National Lead Investigator, and has many publications in these fields.