Desmond Kabus is a driven researcher dedicated to unravelling the complexities of cardiac arrhythmias through computational modelling and machine learning.

His journey began at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, where he earned a Bachelor and Master of Science in Physics with distinction, specialising in plasma physics and computational methods. His interest in cardiac electrophysiology was sparked in his 2016 bachelor’s project on numerical enforcement of boundary conditions in finite-differences simulations of reaction-diffusion systems.

Under the guidance of Rainer Grauer and Jürgen Dreher, Desmond’s master’s thesis, published 2019, focused on localising defects in idealised heart muscle tissue using the adjoint state method, laying further groundwork for his research in computational cardiology. He further honed his skills during a semester abroad at Stockholms Universitet, Sweden, funded by an ERASMUS grant.

Driven by a passion for bridging theoretical physics and cardiac science, in 2021, Desmond embarked on a joint PhD program to study the mathematics of cardiac arrhythmias at KU Leuven and Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). Under supervision by Hans Dierckx (KU Leuven) and Daniël Pijnappels (LUMC), he is working with an international team of researchers from engineers to cell biologists and physicians. His interest lies in developing numerical methods, such as data-driven, individualised human heart models using high-resolution recordings of human atrial tissue cultures, paving the way to a full cardiac twin. He will continue with this research as a post-doctoral researcher at LUMC working along Tim De Coster.

Desmond’s expertise encompasses a wide range of disciplines, including cardiology, computational physics, optimisation, machine learning, and tissue modelling. His commitment to pushing the boundaries of cardiac research is evident in his inter-disciplinary work, which promises to significantly contribute to the understanding and treatment of heart rhythm disorders.