Dr JJ Coughlan graduated with an honours degree in Medicine from Trinity College Dublin. His internship and general medical training were completed on the Trinity training schemes. Following four years of 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 by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. His research interests include anti-thrombotic therapeutic strategies for acute coronary syndromes and long-term outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention.