Dr JJ Coughlan graduated with an honours degree in Medicine from Trinity College Dublin. Following Higher Specialist Cardiology Training in Ireland, he was awarded a training grant by the European Association for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention to undertake a research and clinical fellowship in the German Heart Centre in Munich, Germany. While in Munich, he undertook doctoral studies with a focus on anti-thrombotic regimens for patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, for which he was awarded a Medical Doctorate (M.D.) by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. His research interests include anti-thrombotic strategies for acute coronary syndromes and the optimisation of long-term outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention.